Field performance of four vibrating-wire piezometer installation methods

Vibrating wire piezometers provide a number of advantages over the traditional hydraulic piezometer design. There are currently many methods and configurations for installing vibrating-wire piezometers, the most common being: single piezometers in sand packs (SP), multilevel piezometers in sand packs (MLSP), and fully-grouted multilevel piezometers using either bentonite (FGB) or cement-bentonite grout (FGCB). This study assesses the performance of these four different installation methods at a field site possessing complex stratigraphy, including glacial and marine sediments. To accomplish this objective, pore pressure data recorded between December 2017 and July 2019 were analyzed. Data indicate that SP, MLSP, and FGB piezometers performed most reliably, based on the fact that piezometers installed at the same depth with these methods recorded similar pressure variations that were coherent with the hydrogeological setting. Of the two fully-grouted installations using cement-bentonite grout, one installation failed completely due to a hydraulic short circuit, likely caused by preferential flow occurring along the wires of the embedded instruments. The lack of a standard method for mixing cement-bentonite grout at the time of construction likely contributed to the failure of the FGCB installations, as the grout mixture used in this study was likely too viscous to provide a suitable seal.

Multimodal Carbonates: Distribution of Oil Saturation in the Microporous Rock Regions

Improved oil recovery from tight carbonate formations may provide the world with a major source of lower-rate power over several decades. Here we provide an overview of the Arab D formation in the largest oil field on earth, the Ghawar. We investigate the occurrence of microporosity of different origins and sizes using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and pore casting techniques. Then, we present a robust calculation of the probability of invasion and oil saturation distribution in the nested micropores using mercury injection capillary pressure data available in the literature. We show that large portions of the micropores in Arab D formation would have been bypassed during primary drainage unless the invading crude oil ganglia were sufficiently long. Considering the asphaltenic nature of oil in the Ghawar, we expect the invaded portions of the pores to turn mixed-wet, thus becoming inaccessible to waterflooding until further measures are taken to modify the system’s chemistry.

Wireline logs vs drilling events: Which one to believe in implying subsurface pressure?

As generally known, subsurface pressure can be implied using both wireline logs and drilling events. However, there may be a case where wireline logs and drilling events do not indicate the same subsurface pressure. Data from four vertical wells located in the South Sumatra Basin, Indonesia, were analyzed as a case study. Two wells, Wells A and D, encountered high overpressured zones, confirmed by drilling events and wireline logs data. The two others, Wells B and C, only encountered low overpressured zones, inferred by the relatively low mudweight used during the drilling. However, the wireline logs of Wells B and C show a reversal as Wells A and D. There are two hypotheses to explain the condition in Wells B and C. First, the wireline logs reversal is due to shallow carbonate cementation. Second, Wells B and C were drilled in an unintentional underbalanced condition. The method used includes XRD, SEM, and titration analysis. The results show that the first hypothesis is false, while the second is true. It may be due to some missing information related to drilling events in the final well report of Wells B and C.

Effect of perioperative blood pressure variability on cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome after carotid artery stenting: A retrospective study

Objective To investigate the effect of perioperative blood pressure variability on cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome after carotid artery stenting. Methods A retrospective analysis was conducted of data collected from 418 patients who underwent carotid artery stenting in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region People's Hospital in China. The blood pressure data were collected during operation (after balloon dilation, before stent release, after stent release) and within 3 days after the operation. The blood pressure variability was evaluated by measuring the mean, maximum, minimum, max–min, standard deviation (SD) of systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP). The correlation between blood pressure variability and cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome was analysed. Results Blood pressure data from 418 patients were analysed. Twenty patients (4.8%) developed cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome. The parameters of blood pressure variability were divided into four groups according to quartile. After adjusting for age, symptomatic carotid stenosis, unilateral carotid stenosis, bilateral carotid stenosis, collateral circulation, diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease, multivariate analysis showed that SBPMax, SBPMin, SBPMax−Min, SBPCV, DBPSD, DBPMax, DBPMin, DBPMax−Min and DBPCV were associated with the occurrence of cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome ( P < 0.05), respectively. Conclusion This study suggests that blood pressure variability during the perioperative period may increase the risk of cerebral hyperperfusion syndrome.

Desorption Characterization of Methane in Coal with Different Moisture Contents and Its Influence on Outburst Prediction

Coal and gas outburst is a dynamic phenomenon with violent eruptions of coal and gas from the working coal seam. It has been proved that rapid desorption within a short period is necessary for the occurrence of an outburst. Due to the limitation of the present test condition, gas desorption characterization in coal with different moisture content for the first several seconds (0–60 s) has not been researched sufficiently. In this study, initial desorption characterization of gas in coal with different moisture content is studied by experiments with methane. The most remarkable characteristic of the experimental setup is the application of a self-developed real-time data acquisition system with a time interval of about 10 ms, which achieves the goal of collecting enough pressure data for analysis and calculation. The data is used to study gas pressure variation and calculate the initial amount of desorbed gas and index (ΔP) of initial velocity diffusion of coal gas. From the experimental results, the new proof has been found to verify that coal with lower moisture content and methane outburst is more dangerous than coal with higher moisture content and outburst. The degree of coal and methane outburst is exponentially decaying with increasing moisture content.