An Investigation into the Effects of Salt Concentration on Surfactant Adsorption Using a Quartz Crystal Microbalance

Surfactant adsorption from aqueous electrolyte solutions onto metal surfaces was characterized through the use of a Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM). The need for a better understanding of the surfactant adsorption process became apparent in previous studies by Morton et al., who used estimated and extrapolated properties in a thermodynamically-based model of oil removal from metal surfaces. These modeling efforts overlap existing data on surfactant adsorption data and require an estimation of surfactant adsorption phenomena, especially the transition between monolayer adsorption and multi-layer adsorption, which corresponds to the critical micelle concentration (CMC). Thus, the purpose of this study was to gain surfactant adsorption data in an effort to increase the efficacy of surfactant degreasing techniques. A survey of the literature and a summary of the research in this thesis is provided in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 reports the experimental work to establish the mass of surfactant adsorbed from an aqueous electrolyte-surfactant solution onto a vibrating crystal of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). Density and viscosity of the aqueous solutions were measured separately so that the change in mass could be observed from the frequency change measurements. Conclusions about the behavior of the surfactant adsorption phenomena taking place at varying salt concentrations were discussed. Chapter 3 presents future direction for the continued study of the cleaning and degreasing studies in this thesis

An experimental and theoretical critique of flow model accuracy

In today’s exploration and production environment it is required that engineers must collect and use vast amounts of data for flow model construction and calibra- tion, as well as reservoir estimation and optimization. With modern technology, the data volume can be overwhelming. It is necessary that data monitoring and calibration are highly efficient. It is also essential that physical and mathematical models can be tested in repeatable, inexpensive experiments. The experiments described in this thesis will develop and perform verification of algorithms and can generate prior geomodels, collect and process seismic refraction data, collect and process production data, and calibrate these models. The experimental components discussed here are collectively referred to as The Sand Tank Experiment. Contained in the LSU WaveCIS tank is a wedge shaped sand pack that can be saturated with water. Water can then be produced from this model reservoir while it is monitored by pressure/temperature sensors. A 20 kHz seismic source and 8 accelerometers are used to collect seismic first arrival data during this production period. This data can then be used to image varying water saturations throughout the reservoir. Those water saturations modify the compressional, p-wave, seismic velocities as described in the Biot and Gassman relationships. Picking first arrival times for each run of the experiment can further enhance the use of the seismic data. These first arrival times can then be compared to calculated first arrival times from simulation data and the residuals can be used to measure the accuracy

Plans and Pivots: Embracing Change in an IR Marketing and Outreach Program

Have you designed, implemented, and assessed the success of an outreach and marketing program to encourage faculty deposits to your Institutional Repository? In the first year of our program, we were able to increase faculty participation in one academic department from 13% to 31%, and in another academic department from 33% to 60%! We will show you how our team of librarians and library staff rose to the challenge of engaging departmental faculty colleagues in Open Access through participation in the IR. For every plan we attempted to implement, there was a pivot we had to make in order to achieve our desired results. Invitations to faculty department meetings were extended, rescinded, and extended again. New ways to engage student employees were discovered. See how we planned, pivoted, and embraced change, and how that experience encouraged the evolution of the marketing and outreach program for the current academic year