Experimental study on the effect of rock pressure on sandstone permeability

The results of laboratory studies to determine the effect of effective stress on the permeability of sandstone are presented. During the test, the samples were subjected to a stepwise increase or decrease of the effective stress (at a constant pore pressure) in a specified step. The values of rock permeability at different values of effective stress were determined, and the influence of the grain size of the reservoir rock matrix on the character of the change in the sandstone permeability coefficient was also established. During the test, a decrease in permeability was observed with an increase in effective stress. It was found that as a result of gradual loading/unloading of the sandstone sample, the original permeability values were not restored, which indicates the beginning of the formation of residual strains in the rock. This effect should be taken into account when modeling field development because in the process of reserves extraction the effective stress acting on the reservoir rock skeleton changes, which results in a significant chang in rock permeability. The results of laboratory studies showed that the deviation of permeability in medium-grained sandstones relative to the initial value was greater than in medium- and fine-grained sandstones. The pressure sensitivity coefficient and constant of material, which are used in empirical relationships between permeability and effective stress, were numerically estimated. At the same time, the constant of material showed no such convergence, which indicates that the values of this parameter are individual for each rock

An In-depth Study of Calcium Carbonate Scale Formation and Inhibition

Abstract A fundamental study of scale formation of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) for producing oil wells has been carried out. This article presents the study of the prediction of salt deposition in two different synthetic formation waters and investigates the effects of temperature and pressure on calcium carbonate precipitation. The dependence of the induction period of the precipitation of calcium carbonate on the concentration of calcium ions was studied. In order to study the chemical scale inhibition, the most effective inhibitors, which are based on the risk analysis of scaling and laboratory reagent selection, were examined for evaluating the performance of salt inhibition. In this work, a new multi-component inhibitor was made and its scale effectiveness was evaluated at different concentrations. The developed inhibitor was mixed with other inhibitors to prevent calcium carbonate precipitation. The observations showed the synergetic inhibition effect on the scale inhibition at different concentrations of scale inhibitors. The new inhibitor provided high scale effectiveness at specific concentrations and low corrosion activity

Prediction and Inhibition of Inorganic Salt Formation under Static and Dynamic Conditions – Effect of Pressure, Temperature, and Mixing Ratio

As a result of waterflooding, inorganic salt precipitation occurs in the different parts of an oil production system, thereby leading to damage of production equipment. Different parameters affect the kinetics of salt precipitation. Scale inhibitors are widely used to prevent inorganic salt formation. In this study, the effect of reservoir pressure, temperature, and mixing ratio of injection to formation water on calcium sulfate and barium sulfate precipitation was investigated. For this purpose, two different formation waters and one injection water were used. In addition, the effect of temperature and mixing ratio on inhibition performance was studied. Four different existing industrial scale inhibitors and one new scale inhibitor were used. The performance of the scale inhibitors was determined under static and dynamic conditions. Results of the study showed that calcium sulfate precipitation increased with an increase in temperature and a decrease in pressure. Barium sulfate precipitation was found to increase with a decrease in the temperature. The effect of pressure on barium sulfate formation was negligible. The developed scale inhibitor showed the highest performance for the prevention of calcium sulfate and barium sulfate formation. A change in temperature from 60°C to 120°C reduced the inhibitor performance by 3%. In the cases of calcium sulfate and barium sulfate, the minimum performance of the scale inhibitor was observed when the mixing ratios of injection to formation waters were 60:40 and 50:50, respectively

Mass-balance reconstruction for Glacier No. 354, Tien Shan, from 2003 to 2014

This study presents a reconstruction of the seasonal mass balance of Glacier No. 354, located in the Akshiirak range, Kyrgyzstan, from 2003 to 2014. We use a distributed accumulation and temperature-index melt model driven by daily air temperature and precipitation from a nearby meteorological station. The model is calibrated with in situ measurements of the annual mass balance collected from 2011 to 2014. The snow-cover depletion pattern observed using satellite imagery provides additional information on the dynamics of mass change throughout the melting season. Two digital elevation models derived from high-resolution satellite stereo images acquired in 2003 and 2012 are used to calculate glacier volume change for the corresponding period. The geodetic mass change thus derived is used to validate the modelled cumulative glacier-wide balance. For the period 2003–12 we find a cumulative mass balance of –0.40±10mw.e.a-1. This result agrees well with the geodetic balance of –0.48±0.07mw.e.a-1over the same period

Modelling glaciers’ melting in Central Caucasus (the Djankuat and Bashkara Glacier case study)

The A-melt model was applied to assess the contribution snow and ice melting to river flow during the summer period of 2017 for the Bashkara and Djankuat glaciers located in the Caucasus. During the study period, the Djankuat river runoff amounted to 120 thousand m3, while the peak value of snow and ice melting was 300-400 thousand m3 per day, and on average 189 thousand m3. The significant influence of groundwater on the river flow is traced. The melt water contribution to the glacial lake Bashkara outburst manifested in the gradual accumulation of water large volumes over the summer period. The melting of snow and ice the day before the lake outburst reached 31 thousand m3, with an average value of 192 thousand m3 for the Bashkara basin. The total melting volume of the Djankuat basin was 0.016 km3, and of the Bashkara basin – 0.017 km3. As a result, the A-Melt model demonstrates the evaluation ability of glaciers’ impact on mountain rivers runoff

Causes and consequences of the streambed restructuring of the Koiavgan Creek (North Caucasus, Russia)

The restructuring of the lower reach of the Koiavgan Creek channel (the right bank tributary of the Djankuat River) occurred on 1 July 2015 after continuous rainfall with a total precipitation amount of 227 mm. This led to the breakthrough of the Djankuat Glacier lateral moraine. The lower reach of the creek channel was initially formed at the junction of the bedrock slopes and lateral moraine and descended sharply at the end of the moraine to a wide glacial valley of the Djankuat River. The part of the channel from the end of the moraine line to the creek’s outlet in the bottom of the glacial valley had a height difference of 125 m at a distance of about 250 m. The active landslide has been recorded in the place of future breakthrough based on interpretation of 2014 summer satellite image. The linear erosion began to form on the wall of the disruption. Thermokarst processes probably also contributed to this breakthrough. The total volume of sediment eroded during the breakthrough and for four years after is 156 500 m3. The breakthrough has formed the largest sediment cone 300 meters wide and more than 200 m long in the bottom of the Djankuat River valley

Trends, breaks, and biases in the frequency of reported glacier lake outburst floods

Thousands of glacier lakes have been forming behind natural dams in high mountains following glacier retreat since the early 20th century. Some of these lakes abruptly released pulses of water and sediment with disastrous downstream consequences. Yet it remains unclear whether the reported rise of these glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs) has been fueled by a warming atmosphere and enhanced meltwater production, or simply a growing research effort. Here we estimate trends and biases in GLOF reporting based on the largest global catalog of 1,997 dated glacier-related floods in six major mountain ranges from 1901 to 2017. We find that the positive trend in the number of reported GLOFs has decayed distinctly after a break in the 1970s, coinciding with independently detected trend changes in annual air temperatures and in the annual number of field-based glacier surveys (a proxy of scientific reporting). We observe that GLOF reports and glacier surveys decelerated, while temperature rise accelerated in the past five decades. Enhanced warming alone can thus hardly explain the annual number of reported GLOFs, suggesting that temperature-driven glacier lake formation, growth, and failure are weakly coupled, or that outbursts have been overlooked. Indeed, our analysis emphasizes a distinct geographic and temporal bias in GLOF reporting, and we project that between two to four out of five GLOFs on average might have gone unnoticed in the early to mid-20th century. We recommend that such biases should be considered, or better corrected for, when attributing the frequency of reported GLOFs to atmospheric warming.ISSN:2328-427

Trends, Breaks, and Biases in the Frequency of Reported Glacier Lake Outburst Floods

International audienceThousands of glacier lakes have been forming behind natural dams in high mountains following glacier retreat since the early 20th century. Some of these lakes abruptly released pulses of water and sediment with disastrous downstream consequences. Yet it remains unclear whether the reported rise of these glacier lake outburst floods (GLOFs) has been fueled by a warming atmosphere and enhanced meltwater production, or simply a growing research effort. Here we estimate trends and biases in GLOF reporting based on the largest global catalog of 1,997 dated glacier-related floods in six major mountain ranges from 1901 to 2017. We find that the positive trend in the number of reported GLOFs has decayed distinctly after a break in the 1970s, coinciding with independently detected trend changes in annual air temperatures and in the annual number of field-based glacier surveys (a proxy of scientific reporting). We observe that GLOF reports and glacier surveys decelerated, while temperature rise accelerated in the past five decades. Enhanced warming alone can thus hardly explain the annual number of reported GLOFs, suggesting that temperature-driven glacier lake formation, growth, and failure are weakly coupled, or that outbursts have been overlooked. Indeed, our analysis emphasizes a distinct geographic and temporal bias in GLOF reporting, and we project that between two to four out of five GLOFs on average might have gone unnoticed in the early to mid-20th century. We recommend that such biases should be considered, or better corrected for, when attributing the frequency of reported GLOFs to atmospheric warming

Accelerated glacier shrinkage in the Ak-Shyirak massif, Inner Tien Shan, during 2003–2013

The observed increase in summer temperatures and the related glacier downwasting has led to a noticeable decrease of frozen water resources in Central Asia, with possible future impacts on the economy of all downstream countries in the region. Glaciers in the Ak-Shyirak massif, located in the Inner Tien Shan, are not only affected by climate change, but also impacted by the open pit gold mining of the Kumtor Gold Company. In this study, glacier inventories referring to the years 2003 and 2013 were created for the Ak-Shyirak massif based on satellite imagery. The 193 glaciers had a total area of 351.2 ± 5.6 km2 in 2013. Compared to 2003, the total glacier area decreased by 5.9 ± 3.4%. During 2003–2013, the shrinkage rate of Ak-Shyirak glaciers was twice than that in 1977–2003 and similar to shrinkage rates in Tien Shan frontier ranges. We assessed glacier volume in 2013 using volume–area (VA) scaling and GlabTop modelling approaches. Resulting values for the whole massif differ strongly, the VA scaling derived volume is 30.0–26.4 km3 whereas the GlabTop derived volume accounts for 18.8–13.2 km3. Ice losses obtained from both approaches were compared to geodetically-derived volume change. VA scaling underestimates ice losses between 1943 and 2003 whereas GlabTop reveals a good match for eight glaciers for the period 2003–2012. In comparison to radio-echo soundings from three glaciers, the GlabTop model reveals a systematic underestimation of glacier thickness with a mean deviation of 16%. GlabTop tends to significantly underestimate ice thickness in accumulation areas, but tends to overestimate ice thickness in the lowermost parts of glacier snouts. Direct technogenic impact is responsible for about 7% of area and 5% of mass loss for glaciers in the Ak-Shyirak massif during 2003–2013. Therefore the increase of summer temperature seems to be the main driver of accelerated glacier shrinkage in the area