Review of exploration and production technology of natural gas hydrate

Natural gas hydrate is an ice-like substance which is sometimes called “combustible ice” since it can literally be lighted on fire and burned as fuel. Natural gas hydrate is characterized by widespread distribution, large reserves and little pollution. This paper introduced the distributions of hydrate, hydrate reserves and properties of hydrate. The main exploration methods, such as geophysical exploration and geochemical exploration have been presented. In addition, the main production techniques of natural gas hydrate including depressurization, thermal stimulation and chemical injection have been summed up. Finally, the challenges and outlooks of natural gas hydrate production have been proposed.Cited as: Cui, Y., Lu, C., Wu, M., Peng, Y., Yao, Y., Luo, W. Review of exploration and production technology of natural gas hydrate. Advances in Geo-Energy Research, 2018, 2(1): 53-62, doi: 10.26804/ager.2018.01.0

Deep-Time Marine Sedimentary Element Database

Geochemical data from ancient marine sediments are crucial for studying palaeoenvironments, palaeoclimates, and elements’ cycles. With increased accessibility to geochemical data, many databases have emerged. However, there remains a need for a more comprehensive database that focuses on deep-time marine sediment records. Here, we introduce the “Deep-Time Marine Sedimentary Element Database” (DM-SED). The DM-SED has been built upon the “Sedimentary Geochemistry and Paleoenvironments Project” (SGP) database with the new compilation of 34,938 data entries from 433 studies, totalling 63,691 entries. The DM-SED contains 2,412,085 discrete marine sedimentary data points, including major and trace elements and some isotopes. It includes 9,271 entries from the Precambrian and 54,420 entries from the Phanerozoic, thus providing significant references for reconstructing deep-time Earth system evolution. The data files described in this paper are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13898366 (Lai et al., 2024)

CHES: a space-borne astrometric mission for the detection of habitable planets of the nearby solar-type stars

The Closeby Habitable Exoplanet Survey (CHES) mission is proposed to discover habitable-zone Earth-like planets of the nearby solar-type stars ($\sim 10~\mathrm{pc}$ away from our solar system) via micro-arcsecond relative astrometry. The major scientific objectives of CHES are: to search for Earth Twins or terrestrial planets in habitable zones orbiting 100 FGK nearby stars; further to conduct a comprehensive survey and extensively characterize the nearby planetary systems. The primary payload is a high-quality, low-distortion, high-stability telescope. The optical subsystem is a coaxial three-mirror anastigmat (TMA) with a $1.2 \mathrm{~m}$-aperture, $0.44^{\circ} \times 0.44^{\circ}$ field of view and $500 \mathrm{~nm}-900 \mathrm{~nm}$ working waveband. The camera focal plane is composed of 81 MOSAIC scientific CMOS detectors each with $4 \mathrm{~K} \times 4 \mathrm{~K}$ pixels. The heterodyne laser interferometric calibration technology is employed to ensure micro-arcsecond level (1 $\mu$as) relative astrometry precision to meet the requirements for detection of Earth-like planets. CHES satellite operates at the Sun-Earth L2 point and observes the entire target stars for 5 years. CHES will offer the first direct measurements of true masses and inclinations of Earth Twins and super-Earths orbiting our neighbor stars based on micro-arcsecond astrometry from space. This will definitely enhance our understanding of the formation of diverse nearby planetary systems and the emergence of other worlds for solar-type stars, and finally to reflect the evolution of our own solar system.Comment: 39 pages, 37 figures, Invited Review, accepted to Research in Astronomy and Astrophysic

Integrated Power Management of Conventional Units and Industrial Loads in China’s Ancillary Services Scheduling

With the development of the smart grid in China, new opportunities for responsive industrial loads to participate in the provision of ancillary services (AS) will become accessible. This paper summarizes AS in China and analyzes the necessary characteristics and advantages of industrial users to provide AS according to their response mechanism. Cement manufacturing and aluminum smelter processes are selected as two representatives of responsive industrial loads. An agent-based model that includes generation, industrial user, and grid agents is proposed. Using two case studies, we analyze the integrated power management of conventional units and industrial loads in day-ahead and real-time AS scheduling based on real device parameters, price mechanisms and production data. The simulation results indicate that the participation of responsive industrial loads in the provision of AS, in China, can improve the coal consumption rate and the system-wide load factor as well as reduce the total system cost for the provision of AS significantly

A Multi-Agent Computing Approach for Power System Production Simulation

Along with the development of smart grid, demand response becomes the key character of it. Traditional method is unable to simulate the effect of the demand response to the power system operation. Intelligent engineering theory provides us a useful tool to address such difficulty. Based on the intelligent engineering, kinds of demand response resource are integrated and treated as efficiency power plant (EPP), an power system production simulation method with the multi agent computing approach is presented to simulate the EPP, among which generation agent (GA), efficiency power plant (EPPA),as well as the coordination agent(CA) is established. CA make the generation scheduling according to the bidding price of the power plant aiming to balance the power demand and supply, GA and EPPA adjust its bidding strategies on the basis of clear price and the profits received. Comparison with equivalent energy function and sequence operation method, as well as analysis and calculation of the reliability indicator of EPP has been carried out based on the IEEE RTS 79 system demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach

A Multi-Agent Computing Approach for Power System Production Simulation

Along with the development of smart grid, demand response becomes the key character of it. Traditional method is unable to simulate the effect of the demand response to the power system operation. Intelligent engineering theory provides us a useful tool to address such difficulty. Based on the intelligent engineering, kinds of demand response resource are integrated and treated as efficiency power plant (EPP), an power system production simulation method with the multi agent computing approach is presented to simulate the EPP, among which generation agent (GA), efficiency power plant (EPPA),as well as the coordination agent(CA) is established. CA make the generation scheduling according to the bidding price of the power plant aiming to balance the power demand and supply, GA and EPPA adjust its bidding strategies on the basis of clear price and the profits received. Comparison with equivalent energy function and sequence operation method, as well as analysis and calculation of the reliability indicator of EPP has been carried out based on the IEEE RTS 79 system demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach

Integrated Power Management of Conventional Units and Industrial Loads in China’s Ancillary Services Scheduling

With the development of the smart grid in China, new opportunities for responsive industrial loads to participate in the provision of ancillary services (AS) will become accessible. This paper summarizes AS in China and analyzes the necessary characteristics and advantages of industrial users to provide AS according to their response mechanism. Cement manufacturing and aluminum smelter processes are selected as two representatives of responsive industrial loads. An agent-based model that includes generation, industrial user, and grid agents is proposed. Using two case studies, we analyze the integrated power management of conventional units and industrial loads in day-ahead and real-time AS scheduling based on real device parameters, price mechanisms and production data. The simulation results indicate that the participation of responsive industrial loads in the provision of AS, in China, can improve the coal consumption rate and the system-wide load factor as well as reduce the total system cost for the provision of AS significantly

Effects of tracer position on screw placement technique in robot-assisted posterior spine surgery: a case–control study

Abstract Introduction Robot-assisted spine surgery is increasingly used in clinical work, and the installation of tracers as a key step in robotic surgery has rarely been studied. Objective To explore the potential effects of tracers on surgical outcomes in robot-assisted posterior spine surgery. Methods We reviewed all patients who underwent robotic-assisted posterior spine surgery at Beijing Shijitan Hospital over a 2-year period from September 2020 to September 2022. Patients were divided into two groups based on the location of the tracer (iliac spine or vertebral spinous process) during robotic surgery and a case–control study was conducted to determine the potential impact of tracer location on the surgical procedure. Data analysis was performed using SPSS.25 statistical software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois). Results A total of 525 pedicle screws placed in 92 robot-assisted surgeries were analyzed. The rate of perfect screw positioning was 94.9% in all patients who underwent robot-assisted spine surgery (498/525). After grouping studies based on the location of tracers, we found there was no significant difference in age, sex, height and body weight between the two groups. The screw accuracy (p < 0.01)was significantly higher in the spinous process group compared to the iliac group (97.5% versus 92.6%), but the operation time (p = 0.09) was longer in comparison. Conclusion Placing the tracer on the spinous process as opposed to the iliac spine may result in longer procedure duration or increased bleeding, but enhanced satisfaction of screw placement