Cultivation of western white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) using underground brackish water

We assessed the possibility of western white shrimp culture using underground brackish water in Bushehr province, Iran. In July 2008, white shrimp post larvae were stocked in 4 fiberglass tanks, each with a capacity of 3.8m2 . Two tanks were filled with brackish water 35ppt in salinity and two others with underground brackish water 4ppt in salinity. Tanks were situated outdoor and aerated nonstop using a central aerator. The stocking density was 58ind/m2 and the culture period was 90 days. Shrimps were fed with commercial diet by two trays, 80 cm in diameter in each tank. Water exchange was carried out two times a week. During the culture period, the weights of 40 ind. of shrimps were measured every 15 days. At the end of culture period, mean weight of 21.34g and 18.22g, survival of 92.25% and 97.75%, mean production of 1.11 and 1.03kg/m2 and food conversion ratio of 1.20 and 1.28 were recorded for 34ppt and 5ppt salinities, respectively. Statistical analyses showed no significant difference between treatments

The effects of different concentration of salinities on the biochemical components and growth rate of single cell microalgae, Tetraselmis chuii

In This study Growth rate and biochemical components including carbohydrate, chlorophyll a and b and carotenoids of microalgae, Tetraselmis chuii, was studied in different concentration of salinities. Three levels of salinities (10, 27 and 40) with three replicates were used. The results of the treatments indicated that maximum of growth rate was observed in 10psu salinity with 2.8×106 ±0.38×105 cell per milliliters and minimum in 40psu with 1.6×106 ±0.48×105 cell per milliliters (P< 0.05). The carbohydrate, chlorophyll a and b and carotenoid pigments were lower and significantly difference in 27psu and 40psu of salinities (P<0.05). Obtained results of cell concentration with 2.2×106 ± 0.45×105 per milliliters and biochemical components showed that the best salinity was 27psu for culture of microalgae, Tetraselmis chuii

Investigation of Gravity Drainage in Fractured Porous Media

The oil production from well fractured carbonate reservoirs is a considerable part of the total oil production in the world. The petroleum resource base in naturally fractured reservoirs is estimated to be in the range of billions of barrels in the U.S and in addition, a multibillion- barrel international oil resource base exists in naturally fractured reservoirs. Gravity drainage is important in some of oil recovery processes, either acting as the driving force in processes using horizontal wells or altering the displacement patterns during water-flooding, chemical flooding, CO2 flooding and other EOR methods. The gravity drainage process has a major effect on oil recovery from oil reservoirs. Gravity drainage driven oil production in naturally fractured and other complex reservoirs falls into two regimes: the balk flow regime and the film flow regime. Oil recovery by gravity drainage in a fractured reservoir strongly depends on the capillary height of the porous medium. Capillarity and gravity forces are usually the major driving forces in fractured reservoirs. This PhD thesis consists of two main parts namely: 1) Experimental works on gravity drainage, and 2) Modeling and simulation of the gravity drainage processes using COMSOL® software. An appropriate design of experiment (DOE) method was selected to find the most important parameters contributing in gravity drainage and then conduct the experiments in a useful as well as economic manner. A two-dimensional experimental setup was employed to investigate free fall gravity drainage (FFGD) and controlled gravity drainage (CGD) using unconsolidated glass beads fractured porous media having various fractures configurations. Flow visualization measurements were carried out. Following the flow visualization experiments, parametric sensitivity analysis was performed considering the effects of different system parameters such as fracture aperture, matrix height, permeability, and fluid properties on the dependent variables including drainage rate, critical pumping rate, maximum drainage rate, recovery factor and so on. These experiments enabled us to capture some aspects of the recovery mechanism and the flow communication between matrix block and fracture during gravity drainage. After analyzing the experimental data for the FFGD test runs, it was found that the rate of liquid flowing from matrix to fracture is proportional to the difference of liquid levels in the matrix and in the fracture. In addition, the characteristic rate and the maximum liquid drainage rate from the fractured models were determined for such a stable gravity-dominated process. The experiments showed that the presence of fracture is more influential in lower matrix permeability systems. For a given fracture-matrix system with different initial liquid saturation conditions, it was seen that the production history can be correlated by plotting the fraction of recoverable liquid as a function of time. Furthermore, the recovery factor can be correlated using dimensionless numbers such as the Bond number and the dimensionless time. For the controlled gravity drainage (CGD) test runs conducted, the experimental results indicated that higher pumping rates cause a higher difference between the liquid levels in the fracture and in the matrix, thus the gas breakthrough happens sooner. Moreover, it was found that as long as the porous medium is drained with a constant liquid pumping rate but lower than critical rate, the height difference between the G-L interfaces in matrix and fracture remains constant. In this study, a new concept of “Critical Pumping Rate” (CPR) was defined at which each particular porous medium has recovery factor equal to the recovery factor for higher rates just before gas breakthrough. The difference between liquid levels in fracture and matrix remains unchanged at rates higher than CPR. Known this particular withdrawal rate, there are two main advantages, namely: 1) choosing a pumping rate lower than it to drain the reservoir without getting gas breakthrough; and 2) understanding the physics of pumping behaviour from fractured media and extending the concept to the real cases. In addition, the maximum liquid pumping rate from each physical model was studied and it was found that the rate depends strongly on the storage capacity of the fractures, petrophysical properties of each model as well as physical properties of test fluids. The critical rate, maximum rate, recovery factor at gas breakthrough and difference of gas liquid interface positions in matrix and fracture were correlated by dimensionless numbers such as Bond number, Capillary, and the ratio of permeabilities. Linear regression correlations presented in this study can predict production history and flow behaviour in the fractured porous media for a wide range of dimensionless numbers. The COMSOL® software was used to numerically simulate the gravity drainage processes in the two-dimensional flow experiments for fractured porous media. The parameters of the model were based on theory, as well as on the results of the two-dimensional gravity drainage experiments. The simulation results for the gravity drainage processes compared favourably with the experimental results, as a good match between the numerical solution and the experimental data was found. The simulation model developed provides a basis for further modeling of gravity drainage process in more complicated porous media

PVTX characteristics of oil inclusions from Asmari formation in Kuh-e-Mond heavy oil field in Iran

Incorporating PVT properties and compositional evolution of oil inclusions into reservoir engineering simulator protocols can enhance understanding of oil accumulation, reservoir charge history, and migration events. Microthermometry and volumetric analysis have proven to be useful tools in compositional reconstitution and PT studies of oil inclusions and were used to determine composition, thermodynamic conditions, physical properties, and gas-to-oil ratios of heavy oil samples from Asmari carbonate reservoir in Kuh-e-Mond heavy oil field in Iran. PVT properties were predicted using a PVT black-oil model, and an acceptable agreement was observed between the experiments and the simulations. Homogenization temperatures were determined using microthermometry techniques in dolomite and calcite cements of the Asmari Formation, as well. Based on the homogenization temperature data, the undersaturated hydrocarbon mixture prior to formation of the gas cap migrated with a higher gas-to-oil ratio from a source rock. According to the oil inclusion data, the onset of carbonate cementation occurred at temperatures above 45 °C and that cementation was progressive through burial diagenesis. PVT black-oil simulator results showed that the reservoir pressure and temperature were set at 100 bar and 54 °C during the initial stages of oil migration. Compositional modeling implies that primary and secondary cracking in source rocks were responsible for retention of heavy components and migration of miscible three-phase flow during hydrocarbon evolution. The PT evolution of the petroleum inclusions indicates changes in thermodynamic properties and mobility due to phenomena such as cracking, mixing, or/and transport at various stages of oil migration

Data Analytics Techniques for Performance Prediction of Steamflooding in Naturally Fractured Carbonate Reservoirs

Thermal oil recovery techniques, including steam processes, account for more than 80% of the current global heavy oil, extra heavy oil, and bitumen production. Evaluation of Naturally Fractured Carbonate Reservoirs (NFCRs) for thermal heavy oil recovery using field pilot tests and exhaustive numerical and analytical modeling is expensive, complex, and personnel-intensive. Robust statistical models have not yet been proposed to predict cumulative steam to oil ratio (CSOR) and recovery factor (RF) during steamflooding in NFCRs as strong process performance indicators. In this paper, new statistical based techniques were developed using multivariable regression analysis for quick estimation of CSOR and RF in NFCRs subjected to steamflooding. The proposed data based models include vital parameters such as in situ fluid and reservoir properties. The data used are taken from experimental studies and rare field trials of vertical well steamflooding pilots in heavy oil NFCRs reported in the literature. The models show an average error of <6% for the worst cases and contain fewer empirical constants compared with existing correlations developed originally for oil sands. The interactions between the parameters were considered indicating that the initial oil saturation and oil viscosity are the most important predictive factors. The proposed models were successfully predicted CSOR and RF for two heavy oil NFCRs. Results of this study can be used for feasibility assessment of steam flooding in NFCRs..

Reforestation of grey mangroves (Avicennia marina) along the northern coasts of the Persian Gulf

Every ecosystem supports the living organisms by providing direct and indirect benefits and services. Among these areas, mangrove forests are one of the most fertile ecosystems in the intertidal zones. These natural forests are one of the coastal ecosystems that not only provide a source of food for humans and animals, but also play a major role in protecting and stabilizing coastlines and controlling climate. Mangroves are a breeding ground and a safe habitat for a variety of marine vertebrates and invertebrates. This study explains the experienced methods of propagation and foresting of Avicenna marina species. For the first time in the Persian Gulf, we reported a 5-year evaluation of reforestation method of grey mangrove. Reforestation in the highest latitude of natural forests in the Persian Gulf did not have any side effects on growing of Grey mangrove in the selected sites. As a result, increasing the area of Grey mangrove forests in the Persian Gulf improves the ecosystems of the tidal area. Increasing the chances of fishing and improving the economic conditions of the local communities around this bay will be some of the results of mangrove forestation. Furthermore, this is the first report of a simple method to train all the steps of grey mangrove reforestation. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V

The study of propagation and culture of marine worm (Perinereis nuntia)

Marine polychaete worms living in different beds from coastal areas, so different cultures can be different effects on their development. The evaluation of this research initially, marine polychaete worms were collected in low tidal sea areas from Gulf Persian coast in Bushehr. During several stages of sampling do more than 2000 pieces of worm were taken and then transferred to Bandarga Shrimp Research Station (Iran Shrimp Research Center). So based on an observation the desired species identification (Perinereis nuntia). Then 400 pieces worm selected and transferred to tanks maintain immature worm (fiberglass tanks with dimensions of 2×2×0.5 m with 15 cm sand on floor). The results showed that even the worms (P. nuntia) in vitro reached sexual maturity able to spawn in captivity conditions and were absolute fecundity of 16010 ± 17630 eggs. After incubation eggs, larval culture into the plastic tank with 70 cm diameter, larval (1.5 to 2 mm) were introduced with density 2000 (pieces/m^2). In this research used to three different beds (tidal, filled with water all of time and wet bed) with three different food types (food shrimp, seaweed and vegetable waste), so there were 9 experimental treatments. All experimental treatments harvested and estimate production in each of them after 270 days. The seaweed tidal treatment with amount of 21.17 g/m^2 had best results and the all of wet treatments with 0 g/m^2 was the lowest production. Compare of beds showed that the tidal treatments have significant difference with other beds in growth factors (e.g. mean weight, survival percentage and total production) (P0.05)

Identification of Bopyridae, Isopoda in green tiger prawn (Penaeus semisulcatus) and jinga shrimp (Metapenaes affinis) from coastal area of Buoshehr, Persian Gulf

This study was conducted at depth 5-20 meters from the coastal area of Bushehr during July to September, 2013. The aim of this study was identification of Bopyrid: Isopod in two shrimp species Penaeus semisulcatus and Metapenaes affinis and the effects of biological and environmental factors on its disturbance. In this study 814 kg of samples included of 735 kg of Green tiger shrimp (P. semisulcatus), 68 kg of jinga shrimp (M. affinis) and 20 kg other species were collected. The identified Bopyridae parasite was belonged to Epipenaeon ingens. The result showed that the abundance of bopyridae parasite in the Green tiger shrimp (P. semisulcatus) was 26%, which observed in the depth of 10 – 20 meters. No Bopyridae parasite was detected from jinga shrimp (M. affinis). The average weight and length of infected green tiger prwan specimens were 39.87±0.27 gr and 19.61±0.07 cm, respectively. The physiological state of infected shrimps indicated that, reduction of ovarian development and petasma in female and male, respectively. There was a significant relationship between water temperature and salinity increased with increasing of E. ingens abundance in P. semisulcatus in the studied area

The production of plant protein diet, and determination of their effects on western white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) growth indexes at earthen ponds

The effects of one diet contain of 42 percent soybean meal (experimental treatment with 38 percent crude protein) in comparison with commercial diet (control treatment with 39 percent crud protein) at 6 earthen ponds, each one with the area of 0.4 ha, ( 2 treatments and 3 replicates in each treatment) on growth indexes of western white shrimp (Litopenaeusvannamei) was determined. The initial weight of post larvae was 0.008±0.001g, with density of 25 ind/m^2 . The mean of culture periode in the experimental treatment and control treatment was 115 dayes, The mean of growth rate (GR) in the experimental treatment and control treatment was 15.70±0.88g and 15.60±0.52 g, respectively and significant statistically difference was between those (p0.05).The net protein utilization (NPU) in the experimental treatment and control treatment was 17.05 ±0.38 percent and 11.80±0.26 percent respectively, and significant statistically difference was between those (p0.05).The amount of diet consumption, in the experimental treatment and control treatment was 5144±112.23 kg and 5055±59.77 kg respectively, and significant statistically difference was between those (p<0.05). The price of 1 kg of plant diet and commercial diet computed 34.000 rials and 43.000 rials respectively. In the shrimp body analysis, crude protein percent, in the experimental treatment was more than control treatment and significant statistically difference was computed between those (p<0.05). Totally, the use of plant protein for the feeding of L.vannamei in the earthen pond, can decrease the cost of plant diet, 20 percent lower than commercial diet