Physiology of Skin

One of Montagna's greatest contributions to study of the biology of the skin has been his demolition of the artificial walls that traditionally separated the histologist from the physiologist. He has shown that only by relating function with structure can we shed light on the workings of the skin. He has stressed the fallacy of studying a single structural or functional unit in isolation from others. The skin represents an organization of many different functional units, and physiology of skin is the study of this organization. My purpose is to make a personal commentary on the achievements, failures, and prospects of understanding some aspects of the organization of the functional units. Twenty-five years ago, the importance of relating skin to internal organs and systems received much attention. We have long been aware that skin sometimes reacts to internal disease, but only recently has the impact of skin disorders on the circulatory, renal, and gastro-intestinal systems been recognized. As a result, our patients are now less likely to suffer from neglect of the whole which follows narrow over-specialized attention to the part. Increased interest in endocrine effects on the skin has revealed that several important physiologic activities of the skin are either partly or wholly regulated by hormones secreted by endocrine glands. Nevertheless, some physiologic activities in skin seem to be independent, their regulation being carried out by local mediating hormones. Other activities involve both central and local regulation. The nature and roles of these two control mechanisms and their interrelation constitute by far the most promising physiologic research in skin

Effect of Nonsteroid Anti-Inflammatory and Antipyretic Drugs on Prostaglandin Biosynthesis by Human Skin

There is increasing evidence that prostaglandins are mediators of inflammation in skin and that prostaglandins are synthesised locally in response to the inflammatory stimulus. The effect of four nonsteroid anti-inflammatory or antipyretic drugs on prostaglandin biosynthesis by human skin has therefore been studied. Aspirin (0.56 mM) and indomethacin (0.28 mM) produced a small but significant inhibition of synthesis of prostaglandin E2. Indomethacin and chloroquine, but not aspirin, inhibited synthesis of prostaglandin F2a. Acetaminophen inhibited synthesis of prostaglandin F2, but did not inhibit prostaglandin E2 synthesis. None of the drugs studied are therapeutically effective anti-inflammatory agents in human skin and it may be significant that the inhibitory effects of aspirin and indomethacin on prostaglandin synthesis by skin are small compared with the effects of the same drugs on prostaglandin synthesis in other tissues

Numerical simulation of the impact of geological heterogeneity on performance and safety of THAI heavy oil production process

The Toe-to-Heel Air Injection (THAI) in-situ combustion process is an efficient way to extract heavy oil and bitumen. However, such reservoirs are often geologically heterogeneous. This work studied the impact of a range of different geological heterogeneities, often found in bitumen deposits, on the performance and safety of THAI. These heterogeneities included random heterogeneity, layered reservoirs, shaly reservoirs, and semi-permeable cap-rocks. A further aim was to also develop potential remedial measures, such as selective well placement. It was found that the degree of symmetry assumed for the reservoir model had a substantial impact on the predicted level of oil production. This is of particular relevance to otherwise apparently symmetrical well placement designs such as staggered line drive. While the presence of impermeable zones resulted in the decrease in the overall oxygen utilisation for shaly reservoirs, compared to simply low permeability reservoirs, there was no evidence of oxygen breakthrough due to preferential channelling into the production well. In layered reservoirs, the development of a rich oil bank during THAI operation depended upon the distribution of permeability around the horizontal producer (HP), and did not occur when there was high permeability just above the HP. It has been shown that the proper representation of the cap-rock in reservoir models for the simulation of THAI is essential in order to accurately mimic the full pattern of heat distribution into the oil zone of the reservoir, and, thence, fuel lay-down. While THAI can operate stably with a permeable cap-rock, vertical permeabilities above ∼1–3 mD led to significant loss of combustion gases from the reservoir

A comparative study of fixed-bed and dispersed catalytic upgrading of heavy crude oil using-CAPRI

AbstractCAtalytic upgrading PRocess In-situ (CAPRI) incorporated with Toe-to-Heel Air Injection (THAI) for heavy oil and bitumen recovery and upgrading was studied for fixed-bed and dispersed catalysts. The extent of upgrading was evaluated in terms of API gravity, viscosity reduction, impurity removal, and true boiling point (TBP) distribution. The test was carried out using Co-Mo/Al2O3 at temperature of 425°C, pressure 20bar, and residence time of 10min. The dispersed catalyst was tested in a batch reactor. However, the residence time, catalyst-to-oil (CTO) ratios as well as the Reynolds numbers of both contacting patterns were kept the same to ensure dynamic similitude. It was found that the produced oil from dispersed ultrafine Co-Mo/Al2O3 catalyst (dp=2.6μm) exhibited superior light oil characteristics and quality than that produced with the fixed-bed of pelleted Co-Mo/Al2O3 (1.2mm diameter×2–5mm length). The API gravity of the feed oil was 13.8° and the produced oil showed an increase of 5.6° in the fixed bed and 8.7° with the dispersed catalyst. Unlike the fixed-bed of pelleted Co-Mo/Al2O3 which may suffer from diffusion limitations, rapid deactivation, and channelling effect, the ultrafine particles presented high surface area to volume ratio, reducing the chances of pore plugging, have more accessible reaction sites per unit mass, and lead to enhanced cracking of macromolecules. Moreover, the reduction of sulphur of 38.6% and (Ni+V) content of 85.2% in the produced oil show greater heteroatom removal compared to 29% (sulphur) and 45.6% (Ni+V) observed in the product from the fixed-bed

Dynamic simulation of the THAI heavy oil recovery process

Toe-to-Heel Air Injection (THAI) is a variant of conventional In-Situ Combustion (ISC) that uses a horizontal production well to recover mobilised partially upgraded heavy oil. It has a number of advantages over other heavy oil recovery techniques such as high recovery potential. However, existing models are unable to predict the effect of the most important operational parameters, such as fuel availability and produced oxygen concentration, which will give rise to unsafe designs. Therefore, we have developed a new model that accurately predicts dynamic conditions in the reservoir and also is easily scalable to investigate different field scenarios. The model used a three component direct conversion cracking kinetics scheme, which does not depend on the stoichiometry of the products and, thus, reduces the extent of uncertainty in the simulation results as the number of unknowns is reduced. The oil production rate and cumulative oil produced were well predicted, with the latter deviating from the experimental value by only 4%. The improved ability of the model to emulate real process dynamics meant it also accurately predicted when the oxygen was first produced, thereby enabling a more accurate assessment to be made of when it would be safe to shut-in the process, prior to oxygen breakthrough occurring. The increasing trend in produced oxygen concentration following a step change in the injected oxygen rate by 33 % was closely replicated by the model. The new simulations have now elucidated the mechanism of oxygen production during the later stages of the experiment. The model has allowed limits to be placed on the air injection rates that ensure stability of operation. Unlike previous models, the new simulations have provided better quantitative prediction of fuel laydown, which is a key phenomenon that determines whether, or not, successful operation of the THAI process can be achieved. The new model has also shown that, for completely stable operation, the combustion zone must be restricted to the upper portion of the sand pack, which can be achieved by using higher producer back pressure

Down-hole heavy crude oil upgrading by CAPRI : effect of hydrogen and methane gases upon upgrading and coke formation

Heavy oil and bitumen resources will need to be exploited to supplement depleting conventional oils worldwide as they gradually approach their peak production in the forthcoming decades. However, the physico-chemical characteristics of heavy oil and bitumen include high density, low distillates fraction, high viscosity, and high hetero-atom content which make extraction difficult and relatively expensive. The Toe-to-Heel Air Injection (THAI) and ‘add-on’ Catalytic upgrading process in situ (CAPRI) were specifically developed for the recovery and upgrading of heavy oil and bitumen. In this study, the effects of reaction gas media used in THAI–CAPRI were investigated, in particular the effects of using hydrogen, methane, nitrogen, and a blended gas mixture to simulate THAI combustion gases with Co–Mo/γ-Al2O3 catalyst at a reaction temperature of 425 °C, pressure 10 bar, and gas-to-oil ratio 50 mL mL−1. Ex situ regeneration of the spent catalyst by thermal oxidation of the asphaltenes and coke deposits was also investigated. It was found that the average changes in API gravity of the produced oil were 4° using hydrogen, 3° with methane, 2.9° with THAI gas, and 2.7° with nitrogen above the value of 14° API gravity for the feed oil. The viscosity reduction and conversion of hydrocarbons with boiling point 343 °C+ into lower boiling distillable fractions followed the same trend as the API gravity. The percentage loss in specific surface areas as a result of coke deposition in the different reaction gases were as follows: 57.2% for hydrogen, 68% for methane, and 96% for nitrogen relative to the surface area of the fresh catalyst of 214.4 m2 g−1. It was found that the spent catalyst contained 6 and 3 wt.% less coke after six hours operation when using hydrogen and methane reaction gases respectively compared to 23.5 wt.% coke content in a nitrogen atmosphere. Also, 48.5% of the catalyst specific surface area was recovered after oxidative regeneration

Stability of THAI in situ combustion process in reservoirs with layers of grading permeabilities and porosities: Detailed qualitative investigations

The world-wide reserves of heavy oil, tar sand, and bitumen, etc., outweigh those of conventional oil by a factor of 7/3. Given that the conventional reserves are being rapidly depleted, the need to develop and produce the unconventional resources has never been so critical. However, the proven most efficient and environmentally-friendly technology, namely the THAI process, still requires further study, and it has no documented design procedures that factor in the non-ideal geological features of heavy oil and bitumen reservoirs. Throughout the literature, there is little reported on the effects of gradations in reservoir petro-physical parameters on the performance of the THAI process. Consequently, this work reports the results of numerical simulations for four different kinds of reservoirs, each having progressive gradations in permeabilities and porosities. The major findings from this in depth study include. (i) In terms of the temperature distribution, regardless of the permeability and porosity gradations, the high temperature zone is always skewed towards the highest permeabilities and porosities zone. Furthermore, it is found that, in any model in which the shoes of the VI wells have no direct communication pathway with the highest permeabilities and porosities zones of the reservoirs, the high temperature zones occur in two chambers, otherwise, there is one high temperature zone. (ii) It is found that generally, the combustion front tends to be lopsided in favour of the most permeable and porous zone. In the case of a bottom-up progressive increase in permeabilities and porosities (model L1), the single combustion front has greatest advance horizontally at the top and axially in the middle of the reservoir, while in model L2 (the converse of model L1), the combustion fronts propagated in two chambers before the chambers overlapped in the toe region of the HP well where it advanced fastest. Therefore, the combustion zone in model L1 was far more stable than in model L2. (iii) It is found that the combustion fronts in model L3, with the lowest permeabilities and porosities at the centre in the longitudinal direction, propagated in two chambers that overlapped each other around the toe region of the HP well and advanced greatest in the HP well and on either lateral edge of the reservoir. In model L4, which has lateral gradation in permeabilities and porosities, however, the thinner edge of the wedge-shape combustion front had advanced fastest along the vertical mid-plane where the HP well was located. Thus, the combustion zone in model L3 was far more stable than that in model L4. (iv) It is found that in all the models except model L4, there exist rich oil saturation zones in the most permeable and porous regions located ahead of the mobile oil zone (MOZ) of each reservoir. These are formed due to restrictions in the pathways via which the mobilised oil can drain into the HP well. In model L4, the HP well is already in the most permeable zone and consequently, the fluids that favourably reach there are rapidly gravity-drained into the HP well

Novel THAI well arrangements for improving heavy oil recovery rate in comparison to that achievable in the conventional THAI in situ combustion technology

The toe-to-heel air injection (THAI) method is an environmentally friendly process for in situ upgrading of heavy oils and bitumen via in situ combustion (ISC). Unlike the conventional ISC that uses a vertical producer, the THAI process uses a horizontal producer (HP) well to produce the upgraded oil to the surface. Recent field data has shown that the THAI process is a relatively low-oil-production-rate technology. These considerations call for innovative solutions so that the oil production rate is improved, whilst propagating a stable, efficient, and safe combustion front. Consequently, this work has provided those solutions. Through numerical reservoir simulations, using CMG STARS, five completely new THAI well configurations, which have been labeled A01, A02, A03, A04, and A05, have been developed and studied, and their performances are compared against that of the conventional THAI process which has wells arranged in a classic SLD pattern (i.e. the best-performing conventional THAI process) and against each other. The THAI arrangements A02-A04, however, assume a horizontal air injection well, which currently is not used in field practice but may be developed in the future. In field practice, THAI is applied in a line drive configuration starting up-dip and going down on the structure whilst taking advantage of the contribution provided by the drainage due to gravity; the expansion is made one way only (by drilling new patterns in one direction only). For this reason, the classic SLD pattern refers to the case where the dip of the reservoir is significant (>2–3°). However, when the dip of the reservoir is not significant (“flat” reservoirs) there is a possibility to expand the process in both opposing directions. This is the case dealt with in this work. All configurations A01-A05 assume expansion of the THAI commercial operation in both directions. Selection criteria have been developed and used to determine the two best performing processes. For example, in terms of long-term stability, safety, and efficiency of the combustion process, a process named model A01 is the best, as it achieved 99.8% oxygen utilisation when compared with any other model. It also achieves oil recovery, due to two years of combustion only, of 30.78% OOIP, which is greater than that in the base case model. Overall, based on the weighted selection criteria, which are developed from the deepest analyses of the quantitative 1-dimensional time-dependent parameters and from thorough analyses of the qualitative 2-dimensional profiles of temperature, the combustion zone in the form of oxygen mole fraction, and the oil-flow dynamics inside the reservoir in the form of oil saturation, then model A01 is the best and is followed by model A03. The overall performance of each of these two novel methods outweighs that of the conventional THAI process. However, model A03 uses a horizontal well for injection, which is not current field practice. Therefore, future developmental work should concentrate on the novel method A01 for upgrading and recovery of heavy oils and bitumen, especially since this is low-carbon, efficient, wastewater-free, and provides upgrading inside the reservoir and hence it has a low surface footprint