Successful Approach in Curing Lost Circulation in Depleted Aquifer Formations by Utilizing a Combination of Swelling Polymer & a Shear-Rate Rheology-Dependent Cement System; Case Study in UAE Land Operation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond Saragi ◽  
Mohammad Husien ◽  
Agus Liber Maradat Sinaga ◽  
Peter Levison Mwansa ◽  
Esha Narendra Varma ◽  
...  

Abstract One of the greatest historically unsolved challenges to date in the United Arab Emirates is the failure to effectively cure the severe losses due to poor zonal isolation during drilling and cementing aquifer formations in particular the Dammam, UER & Simsima formations in the BAB field. Continuous efforts have been made to seek and pilot new technologies in UAE land operations to overcome drilling operation challenges, specifically chronic lost circulation in aquifer formations with the commitment to drive a more cost-effective operation and reduce the risk of Non-Productive Time (NPT). The current practice was not providing proper zonal isolation in the surface and intermediate sections. Most of the time aerated drilling was utilized while drilling the lost zones and conduct a top-up cement job to improve zonal isolation, but this results in limited reliability. It was necessary to identify a different approach to cure or significantly reduce the losses which would enable the hole section to be drilled successfully while minimizing operational risks, in a cost-effective manner. A technique combining two different technologies was selected: a swelling polymer lost-circulation material (LCM) that hydrates and helps reduce flow velocity into the formation, followed by a shear-rate rheology-dependent cement system. This cement system is a tunable and tailored slurry with thixotropic properties and has shown very cost-effective results with high success rates. It was then decided to tailor this approach to Abu Dhabi land operations to maximize wellbore asset value. After four subsequent trials targeting two different aquifer formations, the technique has shown tremendously promising results by successfully curing the losses providing above 80% returns. These combined technologies aim to eliminate or reduce effect of losses during cementing by performing the primary cementing job with complete returns or minor losses across aquifers thus enhancing wellbore integrity during the lifecycle of the well. It is hoped that this will eliminate, or at a minimum reduce production deferrals and subsequently improve plug and abandon (P&A) operations at end of field life. This paper aims to describe the challenges faced on the first three trials utilizing this technique and the solutions assigned for each trial based on the inputs, such as loss rate, formations interval exposed, design and lab testing for the pumped treatments as well as job execution details along with lesson learned for future jobs.

Author(s):  
Hwee Ling Lim

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) petroleum industry harnesses resources to produce hydrocarbon products in a cost-effective manner. Besides developing new technologies, companies need technical professionals knowledgeable in materials science and engineering for ensuring integrity of critical production facilities and corrosion management. Companies also need non-technical operations personnel to support production and business activities. Their recruitment efforts transpire in a multi-generational labour market complicated by under-utilization of Generation/Gen Y females. This chapter presents findings from a recent study that investigated gender differences in life priorities and work preferences of Gen Y in UAE petroleum industry. In the study, 150 professionals were surveyed on their views of life priorities and work preferences. The findings in this chapter show that Conservation and Self-transcendence were most important life dimensions with intrinsic and extrinsic work motivators most valued. Changes in the importance of specific motivators, by each gender, in recruitment were found compared with retention. Finally, the chapter provides recommendations for recruitment and retention that would help personnel managers develop initiatives that cater to the specific requirements of each gender.


2011 ◽  
pp. 540-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Mackert ◽  
Pamela Whitten ◽  
Emily Krol

Telemedicine and e-health applications have the potential to improve healthcare organizations’ ability to provide advanced services in a cost-effective manner. Given the failure rate of information technology projects in general (25%), successfully launching a new telemedicine or e-health system can be a daunting prospect–especially for organizations without experience with these new technologies. This chapter provides examples of important aspects of pre-project planning that can help set the stage for success in implementing new telemedicine and e-health applications; importantly, the lessons provided in this chapter are provided by discussing both systems that have achieved success and others that have faced significant difficulties. Key points discussed include: the benefits of involving important stakeholders and users in the planning process, effectively contracting with external technology vendors, and successfully managing expectations. Improved pre-project planning can contribute substantially to the eventual project outcome, so this is a step that cannot be overlooked.


Author(s):  
Michael Mackert ◽  
Pamela Whitten ◽  
Emily Krol

Telemedicine and e-health applications have the potential to improve healthcare organizations’ ability to provide advanced services in a cost-effective manner. Given the failure rate of information technology projects in general (25%), successfully launching a new telemedicine or e-health system can be a daunting prospect–especially for organizations without experience with these new technologies. This chapter provides examples of important aspects of pre-project planning that can help set the stage for success in implementing new telemedicine and e-health applications; importantly, the lessons provided in this chapter are provided by discussing both systems that have achieved success and others that have faced significant difficulties. Key points discussed include: the benefits of involving important stakeholders and users in the planning process, effectively contracting with external technology vendors, and successfully managing expectations. Improved pre-project planning can contribute substantially to the eventual project outcome, so this is a step that cannot be overlooked.


Author(s):  
W.J. Parker ◽  
N.M. Shadbolt ◽  
D.I. Gray

Three levels of planning can be distinguished in grassland farming: strategic, tactical and operational. The purpose of strategic planning is to achieve a sustainable long-term fit of the farm business with its physical, social and financial environment. In pastoral farming, this essentially means developing plans that maximise and best match pasture growth with animal demand, while generating sufficient income to maintain or enhance farm resources and improvements, and attain personal and financial goals. Strategic plans relate to the whole farm business and are focused on the means to achieve future needs. They should be routinely (at least annually) reviewed and monitored for effectiveness through key performance indicators (e.g., Economic Farm Surplus) that enable progress toward goals to be measured in a timely and cost-effective manner. Failure to link strategy with control is likely to result in unfulfilled plans. Keywords: management, performance


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 186
Author(s):  
Jia-Huan Qu ◽  
Karen Leirs ◽  
Remei Escudero ◽  
Žiga Strmšek ◽  
Roman Jerala ◽  
...  

To date, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors have been exploited in numerous different contexts while continuously pushing boundaries in terms of improved sensitivity, specificity, portability and reusability. The latter has attracted attention as a viable alternative to disposable biosensors, also offering prospects for rapid screening of biomolecules or biomolecular interactions. In this context here, we developed an approach to successfully regenerate a fiber-optic (FO)-SPR surface when utilizing cobalt (II)-nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) surface chemistry. To achieve this, we tested multiple regeneration conditions that can disrupt the NTA chelate on a surface fully saturated with His6-tagged antibody fragments (scFv-33H1F7) over ten regeneration cycles. The best surface regeneration was obtained when combining 100 mM EDTA, 500 mM imidazole and 0.5% SDS at pH 8.0 for 1 min with shaking at 150 rpm followed by washing with 0.5 M NaOH for 3 min. The true versatility of the established approach was proven by regenerating the NTA surface for ten cycles with three other model system bioreceptors, different in their size and structure: His6-tagged SARS-CoV-2 spike fragment (receptor binding domain, RBD), a red fluorescent protein (RFP) and protein origami carrying 4 RFPs (Tet12SN-RRRR). Enabling the removal of His6-tagged bioreceptors from NTA surfaces in a fast and cost-effective manner can have broad applications, spanning from the development of biosensors and various biopharmaceutical analyses to the synthesis of novel biomaterials.


Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1051
Author(s):  
Jonattan Gallegos-Catalán ◽  
Zachary Warnken ◽  
Tania F. Bahamondez-Canas ◽  
Daniel Moraga-Espinoza

Orally inhaled drug products (OIDPs) are an important group of medicines traditionally used to treat pulmonary diseases. Over the past decade, this trend has broadened, increasing their use in other conditions such as diabetes, expanding the interest in this administration route. Thus, the bioequivalence of OIDPs is more important than ever, aiming to increase access to affordable, safe and effective medicines, which translates into better public health policies. However, regulatory agencies leading the bioequivalence process are still deciding the best approach for ensuring a proposed inhalable product is bioequivalent. This lack of agreement translates into less cost-effective strategies to determine bioequivalence, discouraging innovation in this field. The Next-Generation Impactor (NGI) is an example of the slow pace at which the inhalation field evolves. The NGI was officially implemented in 2003, being the last equipment innovation for OIDP characterization. Even though it was a breakthrough in the field, it did not solve other deficiencies of the BE process such as dissolution rate analysis on physiologically relevant conditions, being the last attempt of transferring technology into the field. This review aims to reveal the steps required for innovation in the regulations defining the bioequivalence of OIDPs, elucidating the pitfalls of implementing new technologies in the current standards. To do so, we collected the opinion of experts from the literature to explain these trends, showing, for the first time, the stakeholders of the OIDP market. This review analyzes the stakeholders involved in the development, improvement and implementation of methodologies that can help assess bioequivalence between OIDPs. Additionally, it presents a list of methods potentially useful to overcome some of the current limitations of the bioequivalence standard methodologies. Finally, we review one of the most revolutionary approaches, the inhaled Biopharmaceutical Classification System (IBCs), which can help establish priorities and order in both the innovation process and in regulations for OIDPs.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (S1) ◽  
pp. 116-116
Author(s):  
M Pires ◽  
A Antunes ◽  
C Gameiro ◽  
C Pombo

Community-focused programs that promote active and healthy aging can help preserve cognitive capacities, prevent or reverse cognitive deficits. Computer-based cognitive training (CCT) is a promising non-pharmacological, cost -effective and accessible intervention to face the effects of age-related cognitive decline. Previous studies proved CCT to have equal or better efficacy compared to traditional interventions. This comparative multifactorial study aims to test the efficacy of a CCT in a non-randomized community sample of 74 older adults: G1-CCT Experimental group (n=43) (Mean age M=72.21, SD=12.65) and G2- Paper-Pencil Control group (n=31; M=77.94, SD=10.51). Pensioners (97.3%), mostly women (83.8 %) with basic education (51.4%) and without dementia diagnosis, completed a cognitive training program of 17 or 34 group sessions (twice a week). G2 undertook a classic cognitive paper-pencil stimuli tasks. G1, performed, additionally, individual CCT with COGWEB® in a multimodal format (intensive training of attention, calculation, memory, gnosis, praxis, executive functions). Both groups completed Portuguese versions of Mini -Mental State Examination (MMSE),Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MOCA); Geriatric Depressive Scale (GDS); Mini Dependence Assessment (MDA); WHOOQL 5 and Social Support Satisfaction Scale (ESSS) before and after participating in the program. Both groups reported better post-test scores on basic cognitive functions (MMSE, MOCA), Depression symptoms (GDS-30), subjective well-being and quality of life (WHOOQL-5). G1 presented higher MOCA and lower GDS scores before and after CCT, although, group differences become less expressive when interaction effects are considered. Results are in line with findings from past studies, CCT supported by the new technologies, is as a relevant cost-effective therapeutic tool for health professionals working with older adults. Particularly for preventive purposes of neuro-cognitive disorders.


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