The Liquid Maldistribution Analysis of the Trickle Bed Reactor with the CFD Method

The liquid phase maldistribution factor has been investigated in trickle bed reactor, and the results are compared with the previous measurement data from literature by using the Electrical Resistance Tomography. The simulation results are in agreement with the experimental results to some degree. The flow rates and particle sizes have been simulated with the method of multiphase flow. There are two different particles with average diameters of 3.4 mm and 5.3 mm. The flow rate has been studied ranging from 100 ml/min to 1100 ml/min. It has been found that the changes of the particles and liquid flow rates have a significant impact on the distribution of the liquid volume fraction. The internal liquid holdup is more serious, and the wall-flow phenomenon is more obvious in a bigger flow rate. The prediction of the liquid volume fraction distribution is a key research technique. Regression predictions have also been researched on the section near outlet, which can predict the internal flow state of the trickle bed under the condition of high temperature and high pressure. The average liquid volume fraction is linear with flow rates. The maldistribution factor is the index correlation with the flow rates. The results and main conclusions can be used to predict the distributions and get the properties in a trickle bed reactor

Geochemical behaviors of HPHT gas reservoirs in the Yinggehai Basin and the efficient gas accumulation mode in its diapir flanks

The Yinggehai Basin is a Cenozoic high-temperature and high-pressure basin where diapir and thermal fluid activities were so strong that the deeply-sourced natural gas accumulated in the shallow traps in the diapir structures. A total of 11 exploratory wells were drilled in 8 diapir structures before 2010, but no commercial gas discoveries were made, provoking a hot debate on the possibility of discovering medium-to-large quality gas reservoirs in the middle and deep layers of the diaper structures. A comprehensive analysis of hydrocarbon generation kinetics, reservoir distribution and sealing conditions revealed the following findings. (1) Three gas-charging mechanisms were identified in the study area, namely slow free gas charging and accumulation under buoyancy, slow charging, evolving and accumulation of water soluble gas, and mixed-phase episodic accumulation. (2) In the high-temperature and high-pressure zones in the core of the diapir, the early gas reservoirs experienced multi-stage transformation at later periods, thus the possibility of forming large gas reservoirs dominated by hydrocarbon is small. In the flanks of the diapir, the early gas reservoirs may be well preserved at later stages, thus it is possible to discover primary gas pools. In the non-diapir zones, water soluble gas reservoirs may occur. (3) Three gas accumulation modes may exist in the study area, namely “the mixed-phase transformation mode” of semi-closed overpressure system in the core and periphery of a diapir, “the gas-phase seepage mode” in the flanks of a diapir, and “the water-phase desolvation mode” of a closed over-pressured system in the non-diapir zones. The analysis revealed that the failure of the previous exploratory drilling was caused mainly by emplacing the wells in the core of the diapir structures. The geochemical behaviors further support that the flanks of a diapir is the favorable place for high-temperature and high-pressure gas accumulation. Exploration practices based on these understandings finally led to the discovery of the large Dongfang 13-1/13-2 gas fields

Numerical Investigation of the Heat Transfer Characteristics and Wall Film Formation of Spray Impingement in SCR Systems

This work established a numerical model to investigate the heat transfer characteristics and wall film formation of spray impinging on the wall in the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system. The model is developed by the Eulerian–Lagrangian approach, where the Lagrangian approach is used to represent the spray generated by a commercial non-air-assisted pressure-driven injector and the Eulerian approach is adopted to represent exhaust gas. The Stochastic Kuhnke Model is applied to spray/wall interaction. The model considers relevant processes, which include mass transfer, momentum transfer, heat transfer, droplet phase change, spray/wall interaction, and wall film formation. The numerical results compared with that of the experiment indicate that the model can accurately estimate the heat transfer characteristics of the wall surface during the spray impingement. Based on the numerical results, the causes of the spray local cooling effect and the rapid cooling effect are analyzed. The correlation between the critical transition temperature and the critical heat flux temperature for wall film formation is derived from the trends of wall temperature and heat flux. In this work, the Stochastic Kuhnke Model is applied and compared with the Kuhnke Model, which proves that it can improve the disadvantage of sudden change during the wall film formation. When the wall temperature is below the critical transition temperature, the wall film mass is sensitive to the wall temperature and increases as the wall temperature decreases

A rapid shift in the sediment routing system of Lower-Upper Oligocene strata in the Qiongdongnnan Basin (Xisha Trough), Northwest South China Sea

© 2019 The Oligocene is a period of continental breakup in the South China Sea and of earth surface topographic change in the southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau. In previous studies, Oligocene sediment from the Qiongdongnan Basin (QDNB) in the NW South China Sea has seldom been recovered, which limited understanding of basin evolution at this time. Here, we apply detrital zircon U-Pb dating to Oligocene sedimentary rocks from the QDNB. The U-Pb age populations in Lower Oligocene highlight the distinctive signatures of several competing sources providing material from nearby structural highs within the basin and Hainan island. In contrast, detrital zircon U-Pb ages of the Upper Oligocene in the central QDNB shows similarities with the Red River and/or coastal rivers in northern Vietnam. These sediments are significantly different from the Lower Oligocene. This abrupt change in the QDNB may imply that its distal sedimentary sources were initially established in the Late Oligocene. Our reconstruction of sediment discharge from proximal to distal sources in the Oligocene improves understanding of the sediment distribution in the QDNB, which will implicate the river drainage evolution and benefit the petroleum exploration of the Northwest South China Sea

The structure and formation of diapirs in the Yinggehai-Song Hong Basin, South China Sea

The occurrence of shale diapirs in the Yinggehai-Song Hong (YGH-SH) Basin is well documented, as is their association with big petroleum fields. In order to better understand how and why the diapirs form we performed a detailed geophysical analysis using a new regional compilation of high-resolution two- and three-dimensional seismic reflection data, as well as drilling data that cover the diapirs in YGH-SH Basin. As many as 18 diapirs were identified and are arranged in six N-S-striking vertical en échelon zones. On seismic reflection sections gas chimney structures, diapiric faults and palaeo-craters are genetically linked with the process of diapirism. Here we use geophysical and geological observations to propose a three-stage model for diapirism: initiation, emplacement, and collapse. During these three stages, different diapiric structure styles are formed, which we describe in detail. These include buried diapirs, piercing diapirs and collapsed diapirs. We link the diapirism to activity on the offshore continuation of the Red River Fault, as shown on our high-resolution seismic reflection data, which is also related to a high paleogeothermal gradient caused by crustal thinning. We also recognize the role of loading by the very large volume of sediment eroded from the edges of the Tibetan Plateau and delivered by the Red River to the basin. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd

lncRNA HOTAIR Contributes to 5FU Resistance through Suppressing miR-218 and Activating NF-κB/TS Signaling in Colorectal Cancer

One major reason for the failure of advanced colorectal cancer (CRC) treatment is the occurrence of chemoresistance to fluoropyrimidine (FU)-based chemotherapy. Long non-coding RNA HOTAIR has been considered as a pro-oncogene in multiple cancers. However, the precise functional mechanism of HOTAIR in chemoresistance is not well known. In this study, we investigated the biological and clinical role of HOTAIR in 5FU resistance in CRC. Our results showed that HOTAIR negatively regulated miR-218 expression in CRC through an EZH2-targeting miR-218-2 promoter regulatory axis. HOTAIR knockdown dramatically inhibited cell viability and induced G1-phase arrest by promoting miR-218 expression. VOPP1 was shown to be a functional target of miR-218, and the main downstream signaling, NF-κB, was inactivated by HOTAIR through the suppression of miR-218 expression. Additionally, HOTAIR knockdown partially reversed 5FU resistance through promoting miR-218 and inactivating NF-κB signaling. Furthermore, HOTAIR restrained 5FU-induced cytotoxicity on CRC cells through promotion of thymidylate synthase expression. More importantly, high HOTAIR expression was associated with poor response to 5FU treatment. In conclusion, we demonstrated that HOTAIR contributes to 5FU resistance through suppressing miR-218 and activating NF-κB signaling in CRC. Thus, HOTAIR may serve as a promising therapeutic target for CRC patients. Keywords: HOTAIR, colorectal cancer, 5-fluorouracil, NF-κB, thymidylate synthase, miR-21

Linking source and sink: Detrital zircon provenance record of drainage systems in Vietnam and the Yinggehai-Song Hong Basin, South China Sea

Cenozoic sedimentary strata of the continental margin are well preserved in ocean basins and offer an important geological window for studying source-to-sink relationships between potential source areas and sedimentary basins over time. We conducted coupled U-Pb dating and Lu-Hf isotope analysis of detrital zircon in fluvial sediments along northern and central Vietnam and sediment core in the western Yinggehai-Song Hong Basin in order to characterize the potential sources, investigate the sedimentary provenance, and decipher the crustal evolution processes of the source areas. The detrital zircons from the fluvial sediments reveal marked spatial changes in their age signatures that correlate with changing basement characteristics. The Red River system generally has multiple zircon age populations with peaks at ca. 30-25 Ma, 247-239 Ma, 441-414 Ma, 751-743 Ma, 1876-1742 Ma, and 2700-2200 Ma, in contrast to the sediments from central Vietnam, which commonly exhibit markedly different age patterns with well-defined Silurian and Triassic peaks (ca. 244-234 Ma and 438-419 Ma). The source-to-sink study demonstrates that both the Red River and central Vietnam materials have made important provenance contributions to the western Yinggehai-Song Hong Basin since the middle Miocene. The western basin has had constantly changing provenance since the middle Miocene because the contributions from these two source areas vary temporally. This integrated study also indicates that the southern Yangtze block and eastern Indochina block had a significantly different tectonic evolution history, as manifested by the age populations of major tectonic-magmatic events. Juvenile crustal growth occurred in the southern Yangtze block during the Neoproterozoic and late Paleozoic to Mesozoic, while the eastern Indochina block is characterized by prominent crustal additions in the Paleoproterozoic

A new kinetic model for authigenic quartz formation under overpressure

To model the change of authigenic quartz content precisely in geological history, a new kinetic model combining time, temperature and pressure was established considering the retardation of overpressure to the formation of authigenic quartz on the basis of Walderhaug's kinetic model including time and temperature. The model was tested to be practically applicable in the Yinggehai Basin. The Cenozoic quartz sandstone in the central depression of the Yinggehai Basin was affected by overpressure during the formation of authigenic quartz. The overpressure inhibiting index was determined based on the measured pressure and authigenic quartz content. The model with overpressure inhibiting index can simulate the evolution of authigenic quarzt much better than Walderhaug's model. Overpressure sandstones with a pressure coefficient between 1.7 to 2.0 can cause the total amount of authigenic quartz to drop by 2.72% to 4.72%, which would result in high-quality reservoirs in deep overpressured formation. Key words: overpressure, authigenic quartz, overpressure inhibiting index, tight sandstone, kinetic model, high quality reservoir, Yinggehai Basi

Ratiometric Fluorescence Detection of Colorectal Cancer-Associated Exosomal miR-92a-3p with DSN-Assisted Signal Amplification by a MWCNTs@Au NCs Nanoplatform

The detection of miRNA shows great promise in disease diagnosis. In this work, a ratiometric fluorescent biosensor based on multi-walled carbon nanotubes@gold nanoclusters (MWCNTs@Au NCs) and duplex-specific nuclease (DSN)-assisted signal amplification was fabricated for miRNA detection. Colorectal cancer (CRC)-associated miR-92a-3p extracted from exosomes was selected as the target. MWCNTs@Au NCs performs the dual functions of fluorescence quencher and internal fluorescence reference. In the absence of miR-92a-3p, an Atto-425-modified single-stranded DNA probe is adsorbed on MWCNTs@Au NCs, resulting in the quenching of Atto-425. In the presence of miR-92a-3p, the duplex is formed by hybridization of the probe and miR-92a-3p and leaves the MWCNTs@Au NCs, resulting in the fluorescence recovery of Atto-425. DSN can cleave the probe and result in the release of miR-92a-3p. The released miR-92a-3p can hybridize with other probes to form a signal amplification cycle. The fluorescence of MWCNTs@Au NCs remains stable and constitutes a ratiometric fluorescence system with that of Atto-425. A detection concentration interval of 0.1–10 pM and a limit of detection of 31 fM was obtained under optimized measurement conditions. In addition, the accuracy of the biosensor was validated by detecting the concentration of miR-92a-3p extracted from clinical exosome samples