Geothermal Well Costs and their Sensitivities to Changes in Drilling and Completion Operations

This paper presents a detailed analysis of the costs of drilling and completing geothermal wells. The basis for much of the analysis is a computer-simulation-based model which calculates and accrues operational costs involved in drilling and completing a well. Geothermal well costs are discussed in general, with special emphasis on variations among different geothermal areas in the United States, effects of escalation and inflation over the past few years, and comparisons of geothermal drilling costs with those for oil and gas wells. Cost differences between wells for direct use of geothermal energy and those for electric generation, are also indicated. In addition, a breakdown of total well cost into its components is presented. This provides an understanding of the relative contributions of different operations in drilling and completions. A major portion of the cost in many geothermal wells is from encountered troubles, such as lost circulation, cementing difficulties, and fishing. These trouble costs are considered through both specific examples and statistical treatment of drilling and completions problems. The sensitivities of well costs to variations in several drilling and completion parameters are presented. The mode1 makes it possible to easily vary parameters such as rates of penetration; bit lifetimes; bit rental, or rig costs; delay times; number of cement plugs; etc. are compared

PHP61 The Financial Impacts of Pharmacist Intervention in Inpatient Department of a Local Hospital in Taiwan

Morphometric analysis of S. mortenseni. (DOC 44 kb

Interference Cancellation Using Power Minimization and Self-coherence Properties of GPS Signals

This paper presents the performance analysis of two digital beam forming techniques used in conjunction with a software GPS receiver to mitigate interference to GPS signals in interference environment. The first method is the constrained minimum power (MOP) method. The second method is the so-called self-coherence restoral (SCORE) method. Both experimental and simulation data are used in the study. The study was performed using experiment data collected in an anechoic chamber to obtain GPS and interference signals. A two by two GPS antenna array and a four channel radio frequency front end were used to collect simulated GPS data generated using hardwarebased simulator in controlled interference environment. Three types of interference signals are deployed in the experiments: FM chirp, binary phase shift key, and broadband. The interference power levels used were +20, +30, and +40 dB above GPS signal power. A software GPS receiver was used to perform acquisition of GPS signals to evaluate the performance of the beam forming algorithms. The preliminary result showed that the MOP method can effectively mitigate all three types of interference at all power levels if a single interference source is present. Experiments using multiple broadband interference sources were also analyzed and our results shown that the effectiveness of the MOP method diminishes as the interference signal power increases and ceases to function at the +40 dB level. The SCORE method does not exhibit consistent performance for the experimental data. This is consistent with our simulation results which show that for the SCORE algorithm to generate satisfactory results, sufficient number of antenna elements is necessary even if there is no interference source present. The number of antenna element is determined by the number of satellites available, as well as the number of interference sources. The experimental and simulation results are discussed in this paper

A loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay for rapid detection of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection in dogs

A simple and rapid diagnostic method of Anaplasma phagocytophilum infection was established, employing the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) reaction. With 1 set of 4 specific primers targeting the citrate synthase (gltA) gene of A. phagocytophilum, the LAMP assay rapidly amplified the target DNA sequence in a single tube in 1 h, requiring only a water bath for reaction. When visualized by gel electrophoresis, the LAMP products appeared as a ladder-like pattern, with many bands of different sizes from 180 base pairs up to the loading well. The results obtained from testing 32 clinical blood samples of dogs demonstrated that the LAMP method was more sensitive than nested PCR in the diagnosis reaction for the detection of A. phagocytophilum DNA

CFD simulations of the spent fuel pool in the loss of coolant accident

Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Malta, 16-18 July, 2012.The study utilized the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methodology to investigate the thermal hydraulic behavior during the hypothetical event of normal operation and loss of cooling accident occurring at spent fuel pool. The boiling time, water level decreasing rate, fuel exposure time and temperature response after fuel exposure for the nuclear power plants under the accident were predicted in this study. We also analyze the flow and heat transfer for the single Atrium-10 fuel bundle. The details of the physics will be shown in this study. The results indicate that the fuel temperature in the pool will not exceed 1200°C to avoid the water-metal reaction after failure of RHR system for 4.578 days. We find that the velocity in the bundle are much faster than outside of the bundle under the LOCA accident.dc201

Landslides affecting sedimentary characteristics of reservoir basin

Typhoons Aere (2004) and Matsa (2005) caused high nephelometric turbidity in the Shihmen reservoir in northern Taiwan, jeopardizing the operation of the reservoir for several days, and ultimately impacting the living conditions and economy of the downstream residents. The torrential rains caused landslides and debris flows in upland areas, and flowed into riverbeds, likely contributing significantly to the suspended sediment yields in the reservoir. This investigation elucidates how upland landslides affect sediment attributes in the reservoir basin. Study methods including field observations, spatial analysis in GIS and aerial photo interpretation are adopted to trace the sediment sources and contributing factors to the landslide. Torrential rains induced landslides and debris-flows upland, causing river incisions and soil erosion in landslide areas lacking vegetation. These factors, together with the conditions of the engineered structures and geologic vulnerabilities of the area, caused suspended sediment yield in the reservoir. The high nephelometric turbidity could potentially reoccur, with masses of landslide-derived sediment remaining upland and in the riverbed

Photoluminescence Properties of the Zn1-x Y (x) O Tubes Prepared by Polycarbonate Templates

We have prepared Zn1-x Y (x) O (x=0 and 0.01) tubes to study its structural and photoluminescent properties. A pore wetting process of porous polycarbonate templates with the liquid precursor and following thermal treatment were utilized for preparing the Zn1-x Y (x) O tube structure. Using the polycarbonate template with pore size of about 2 mu m diameter, the Zn1-x Y (x) O tubes were obtained. Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy was used to measure optical emissions from 350 to 650 nm with a He-Cd laser. The results of the PL spectra show that the Zn1-x Y (x) O tubes have evident emission peaks at the UV (about 380 nm) and visible (around 500 to 650 nm) region. The emission peak at the UV region was slightly shifted to higher wavelengths with increasing Y content. Meanwhile, the green and yellow emission peaks intensity increases as Y content increases. These results are explained by the structure tuning and oxygen deficiency with the introduction of Y

Association between first caesarean delivery and adverse outcomes in subsequent pregnancy: a retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND:Few studies have explored the association between a previous caesarean section (CS) and adverse perinatal outcomes in a subsequent pregnancy, especially in women who underwent a non-indicated CS in their first delivery. We designed this study to compare the perinatal outcomes of a subsequent pregnancy in women who underwent spontaneous vaginal delivery (SVD) or CS in their first delivery. METHODS:This retrospective cohort study included women who underwent singleton deliveries at the International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital from January 2013 to December 2016. Data on the perinatal outcomes of all the women were extracted from the medical records. Multivariate logistic regression was conducted to assessed the association between CS in the first delivery and adverse perinatal outcomes in the subsequent pregnancy. RESULTS:CS delivery in the subsequent pregnancy was more likely for women who underwent CS in their first birth than for women with previous SVD (97.3% versus 13.2%). CS in the first birth was also associated with a significantly increased risk of adverse outcomes in the subsequent pregnancy, especially in women who underwent a non-indicated CS. Adverse perinatal outcomes included pregnancy-induced hypertension [adjusted odds ratio (OR), 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.20, 1.59-3.05], gestational diabetes mellitus (1.82, 1.57-2.11), gestational anaemia (1.27, 1.05-1.55), placenta previa (3.18, 2.15-4.71), placenta accreta (2.75, 1.75-4.31), and polyhydramnios (2.60, 1.57-4.31) in the mother and preterm delivery (1.37, 1.06-1.78), low birth weight (3.78, 2.07-6.90), macrosomia (5.04, 3.95-6.44), and neonatal jaundice (1.72, 1.39-2.14) in the baby. CONCLUSIONS:CS in the first delivery markedly increases the risk of repeated CS and maternal-fetal complications in the subsequent pregnancy, especially in women with a non-indicated CS.Hong-Tao Hu, Jing-Jing Xu, Jing Lin, Cheng Li, Yan-Ting Wu, Jian-Zhong Sheng, Xin-Mei Liu and He-Feng Huan