Foam injection as a mechanism of mobility control in reservoir rocks

Uma das tarefas mais importantes na engenharia de petróleo é a caracterização de reservatórios. Um bom conhecimento das propriedades dos reservatórios é fundamental para confiáveis previsões de produção e para a aplicação dos métodos especiais de recuperação secundária. Uma ferramenta muito utilizada para este fim é a simulação numérica de reservatórios de petróleo, que através da aplicação de métodos numéricos permite obter a solução de equações diferenciais complexas por natureza. Este trabalho trata da modelagem computacional da injeção de espumas em reservatórios de petróleo utilizando o software Eclipse® . O objetivo principal desta pesquisa é compreender quais são os parâmetros que potencializam o aumento do fator de recuperação do óleo retido no espaço poroso após a utilização de métodos convencionais. A espuma é injetada desde a superfície em um reservatório localizado a 8.400 pés de profundidade que contem óleo cuja viscosidade é dependente da pressão, este óleo é conduzido para a superfície através de um poço produtor. Os 2 poços são completados ao longo de toda a espessura da formação de interesse. As equações que expressam o modelo da espuma são detalhadas e discretizadas juntamente com as equações que regem o fluxo de fluidos. Comparações de desempenho variado a concentração da espuma são apresentados para 3 tipos de óleos denominados de leve, intermediário e pesado. Os resultados mostram que existe uma correlação direta entre a concentração da espuma no fluido deslocante e o fator de recuperação de óleo. Destaca‐se ainda que uma concentração crítica c* de espuma é evidenciada com influência direta na eficiência do processo.One of the most important tasks in Petroleum Engineering is a reservoir characterization. A good knowledge of the properties of the reservoirs is essential for reliable production forecasts and the application of special methods of secondary recovery. A very useful tool for this purpose is the numerical simulation of oil reservoirs, which through the application of numerical methods allows for the solution of complex differential equations by nature. This paper deals with the computational modeling of foam injection in oil reservoirs using the Eclipse® software. The main objective of this research is to understand what the parameters that maximize the increase of the oil recovery factor retained in the pore space after using conventional methods are. Foam is injected from the surface into a reservoir of 8.400 feet deep containing oil viscosity which is dependent on the pressure, this oil is conducted to the surface through a production well. Both wells are completed over the entire thickness of the formation of interest. Equations that express the detailed model and the foam are discretized together with the governing equations of the fluid flow. Comparisons at different foam concentration are shown for light, intermediate and heavy oils. Results show that there is a direct correlation between the concentration of the displacing fluid foam and the oil recovery factor. Note also that a critical concentration c* foam is evidenced with direct influence on the efficiency of the process.Peer Reviewe

Fermionic anticommutators for open superstrings in the presence of antisymmetric tensor field

We build up the anticommutator algebra for the fermionic coordinates of open superstrings attached to branes with antisymmetric tensor fields. We use both Dirac quantization and the symplectic Faddeev Jackiw approach. In the symplectic case we find a way of generating the boundary conditions as zero modes of the symplectic matrix by taking a discretized form of the action and adding terms that vanish in the continuous limit. This way boundary conditions can be handled as constraints.Comment: Revision: passage from discrete to continuous clarified, comment on previous results using Dirac quantization included, typos corrected. Version to appear in Phys. Lett.

The Canary Deep Poleward Undercurrent

Poleward undercurrents are well known features in Eastern Boundary systems. In the California Current Eastern Boundary upwelling system (CalCEBS) the California poleward undercurrent has been widely reported, and it has been demonstrated that it transports nutrients from the equator waters to the northern limit of the subtropical gyre. However, in the Canary Current Eastern Boundary upwelling system (CanCEBS), the Canary deep poleward undercurrent (CdPU) has not been properly characterized. In this study, we use trajectories of Argo floats and model simulations to properly characterize the CdPU, including its seasonal variability, and the driving mechanism. The Argo observations show that the CdPU flows from 20oN, near cape Blanc, to, approximately, 45oN, near cape Finisterre in the northwest Spanish’s coast. The CdPU flows deeper than the CalUC, and its mean depth varies with latitude, from the surface at 20oN to 900 m at 44oN. The CdPU shows a marked seasonal variability, with it maximum strength in fall, and the minimum in spring

Discovering the Fine-Scale Morphology of the Gulf of Cádiz: An Underwater Imaging Analysis

The dense and deep water flow that leaves the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic flows through the upper and middle slope of the Gulf of Cádiz as a powerful bottom stream that model sand interacts with bathymetry. The detailed analysis of underwater images,obtained with a photogrammetric sled in the central area of the upper and middle slope of the Gulf of Cádiz, together with multibeam bathymetry and oceanographic and sediment types data, has allowed conducting a detailed study of the seafloor microtopography and the predominant oceanographic dynamics in the study area. Different fine-scale spatial bedforms were identified, such as ripples, dunes, burrows, mounds, obstacle marks, rock bottoms, and low-roughness bottoms using underwater images. Besides, a geostatistical study of the different video transects studied was carried out and allowed us to differentiate three types of bottoms depending on the processes that affect their microtopography.En prens

Scheme for the implementation of a universal quantum cloning machine via cavity-assisted atomic collisions in cavity QED

We propose a scheme to implement the $1\to2$ universal quantum cloning machine of Buzek et.al [Phys. Rev.A 54, 1844(1996)] in the context of cavity QED. The scheme requires cavity-assisted collision processes between atoms, which cross through nonresonant cavity fields in the vacuum states. The cavity fields are only virtually excited to face the decoherence problem. That's why the requirements on the cavity quality factor can be loosened.Comment: to appear in PR

The supplementation with Resveratrol and α-Tocopherol could reduce the risk of sarcopenia in dogs by counteracting the oxidative stress

Several scienti\ufb01c evidences show that oxidative stress is associated with the origin, progression and severity of chronic noncommunicable diseases. Due to the longer duration of life, sarcopenia, osteopenia, osteoporosis and cachexia are considered emerging syndromes for dogs and cats. The objective was to investigate the impact of a supplementation with resveratrol and -tocopherol (JUVENIA \uae ) on the harmful effects of oxidative stress in adult dogs. The study was able to demonstrate this supplementation was able to positively modulate creatine phosphokinase and alkaline phosphatase, which are considered useful biomarkers for sarcopenia, bone formation and speed in bone remodeling. As a result of the longer life of domestic animals and, in particular dogs, the use of food supplements with antioxidant activity could play a critical role in reducing/delaying the onset of chronic-degenerative diseases. On the basis of the present study, the use of products containing resveratrol and -tocopherol acetate seems to be a promising approach for improving the health of dogs

Seasonal and Long-Term Variability of the Mixed Layer Depth and its Influence on Ocean Productivity in the Spanish Gulf of Cádiz and Mediterranean Sea

The warming of the surface ocean is expected to increase the stratification of the upper water column. This would decrease the efficiency of the wind-induced mixing, reducing the nutrient supply to the euphotic layer and the productivity of the oceans. Climatic projections show that the Mediterranean Sea will experience a strong warming and salting along the twenty first century. Nevertheless, very few works have found and quantified changes in the water column stratification of the Western Mediterranean. In this work, we obtain time series of Mixed Layer Depth (MLD) along the Spanish Mediterranean waters and the Gulf of Cádiz, using periodic CTD profiles collected under the umbrella of the Ocean Observing system of the Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO-CSIC). The length of the time series analyzed is variable, depending on the geographical area, but in some cases these time series extend from the beginning of the 1990s decade. Our results show that at present, no statistically significant changes can be detected. These results are confirmed by the analysis of MLD time series obtained from Argo profilers. Some of the meteorological factors that could affect the water column stratification (wind intensity and precipitation rates) did not experience significant changes for the 1990-2021 period, neither were observed long-term changes in the chlorophyll concentration. The hypothesis proposed to explain this lack of trends, is that the salinity increase of the surface waters has compensated for the warming, and consequently, the density of the upper layer of the Western Mediterranean (WMED) has remained constant. As the wind intensity has not experienced significant trends, the stratification of the Spanish Mediterranean waters and those of the Gulf of Cádiz would have not been affected. Nevertheless, we do not discard that our results are a consequence of the short length of the available time series and the large variance of the variables analyzed, evidencing the importance of the maintenance of the ocean monitoring programs.En prens

The evolution of the zooplankton community in the gulf of Cadiz, SW Iberian Peninsula

The Spanish Institute of Oceanography (IEO) has been conducting a multidisciplinary study of the marine ecosystem in the Gulf of Cadiz (GoC; SW Iberian Peninsula) since 2009 within the frame of the program Time Series of Oceanographic data in the Gulf of Cadiz (STOCA, in Spanish). The program maintains repeated observations along five across-shelf transects: three times a year from 2009 to 2012 and quarterly on hereafter. In this paper we present the temporal evolution of the zooplankton community in the GoC. In particular, we focused on samples from three stations located off the Guadalquivir river mouth: GD1 (20 m depth), GD3 (80 m) and GD6 (450 m). Samples were taken with bongo-40 cm paired zooplankton nets (mesh size 200 mm). Double oblique hauls were conducted from top to bottom or to a maximum depth of 200 m) while the ship was steaming at 2.5 kn. A total of 43 samples per station were included in the analysis. Samples were imaged with ZooScan. Full images were processed with ZooProcess which generated set of associated features measured on each identified object (Gorsky et al, 2010). These objects were sorted following a common taxonomic guide using the web application EcoTaxa (http://ecotaxa.obs-vlfr.fr). As a sanity check, a variable number of aliquots were directly identified by light microscopy. These results permitted the description of the mean and variable components of the plankton community, their seasonal in the context of the thermohaline and transport variability in the 2010s

The hammer and the jab: Are COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccinations complements or substitutes?

on the values of other model parameters. That vaccines and lockdowns can act as either substitutes or complements even in a relatively simple model casts doubt on whether in more complicated models or the real world one should expect them to always be just one or the other. Within our model, for parameter values reflecting conditions in developed countries, the typical finding is to ease lockdown intensity gradually after substantial shares of the population have been vaccinated, but other strategies can be optimal for other parameter values. Reserving vaccines for those who have not yet been infected barely outperforms simpler strategies that ignore prior infection status. For certain parameter combinations, there are instances in which two quite different policies can perform equally well, and sometimes very small increases in vaccine capacity can tip the optimal solution to one that involves much longer and more intense lockdowns

Riding the waves from epidemic to endemic: Viral mutations, immunological change and policy responses

Nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPI) are an important tool for countering pandemics such as COVID-19. Some are cheap; others disrupt economic, educational, and social activity. The latter force governments to balance the health benefits of reduced infection and death against broader lockdown-induced societal costs. A literature has developed modeling how to optimally adjust lockdown intensity as an epidemic evolves. This paper extends that literature by augmenting the classic SIR model with additional states and flows capturing decay over time in vaccine-conferred immunity, the possibility that mutations create variants that erode immunity, and that protection against infection erodes faster than protecting against severe illness. As in past models, we find that small changes in parameter values can tip the optimal response between very different solutions, but the extensions considered here create new types of solutions. In some instances, it can be optimal to incur perpetual epidemic waves even if the uncontrolled infection prevalence would settle down to a stable intermediate level