The Use of Hydraulic Completion Snubbing Units HCU in Long Laterals in U.S. Shale Plays

Coiled tubing units (CTU) have been used to drill-out frac plugs in shorter horizontal shale wells for the last decade, but coil has mechanical limitations. The new innovative technology of Hydraulic Completion Snubbing Units (HCU) is gaining popularity across North and South America to drill-out frac plugs in long lateral, high-pressure, and multi-well pads. The HCU is designed for drill-outs and interventions where coil may not be the best option. This paper will summarize the recent evolution of the HCU system. Case histories will be provided from the Appalachian and Permian shale plays. The latest HCU consists of a stand-alone unit that mounts on the wellhead after completion. The primary components include the jack assembly, a gin pole, traveling/stationary slips, a redundant series of primary/secondary blowout preventers, a rotary table, power tongs, and an equalize/bleed off loop. Tubing up to 5 ½" is used to carry a downhole motor, dual back pressure values, and the drill bit. Slickwater is used for the drilling fluid to carry out parts from the frac plugs while the tubing is rotated via the jack rotary table. Torque and drag modeling are performed to guide downhole expectations that allow most wells to be drilled in one trip and with one bit without short trips back to the heel or bottom- hole vibration assembly tools. Finally, a remote telemetry data acquisition system has been added that summarizes the drilling data and key performance indicators. In 2016, a North American operator drilled and completed the first super lateral in the Appalachian Basin, setting the completed lateral record at over 18,500 ft. Since then, many operators have been routinely drilling laterals between 12,000 ft and 16,000 ft. HCU technology has been used in the longest laterals in onshore North America, including the lower 48 U.S records for completed lateral length (LL) at 20,800 ft and the total measured depth (MD) record at 30,677 ft. The average lateral contains between 60 to 90 plugs and can be drilled out in 3.5 to 4.5 days. The record number of plugs drilled out by an HCU is 144 and took 5.2 days. High-pressure wells are also routinely encountered where pressures range from 3000 to 8000 psi during operations. Operators are achieving faster drilling times per plug, less chemical usage, faster moves between wells, and running tubing immediately after the drill-out, thus eliminating the need for a service rig. Operator's desire to reach total depth with the least risk and as cost-efficiently as possible resulted in the HCU gaining market acceptance. This paper will showcase the novel evolution of the HCU system that has enabled it to be a safe and effective option for interventions outside of just frac plug drill-outs such as fishing for stuck/parted coil or wireline and installing production tubing/artificial lift systems.

Environmental and health impacts of spraying COVID-19 disinfectants with associated challenges

Coronavirus refers to a group of widespread viruses. The name refers to the specific morphology of these viruses because their spikes look like a crown under an electron microscope. The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) that has been reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, was proclaimed an international public health emergency (PHEIC) on 30 January 2020, and on 11 March 2020, it was declared as a pandemic (World Health Organization 2020). The official name of the virus was declared by the WHO as “COVID-19 virus”, formerly known as “2019-nCoV”, or “Wuhan Coronavirus”. The International Committee on Virus Taxonomy’s Coronavirus Research Group has identified that this virus is a form of coronavirus that caused a severe outbreak of acute respiratory syndrome in 2002–2003 (SARS). As a result, the latest severe acute respiratory syndrome has been classified as a corona virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pathogen by this committee. This disease spread quickly across the country and the world within the first 3 months of the outbreak and became a global pandemic. To stop COVID-19 from spreading, the governing agencies used various chemicals to disinfect different commercial spaces, streets and highways. However, people used it aggressively because of panic conditions, anxiety and unconsciousness, which can have a detrimental impact on human health and the environment. Our water bodies, soil and air have been polluted by disinfectants, forming secondary products that can be poisonous and mutagenic. In the prevention and spread of COVID-19, disinfection is crucial, but disinfection should be carried out with sufficient precautions to minimize exposure to harmful by-products. In addition, to prevent inhalation, adequate personal protective equipment should be worn and chemical usage, concentrations, ventilation in the room and application techniques should be carefully considered. In the USA, 60% of respondents said they cleaned or disinfected their homes more often than they had in the previous months. In addition to the robust use of disinfection approaches to combat COVID-19, we will explore safe preventative solutions here.

Characterisation of Plant Growth-Promoting Endophytic Bacteria from Sugarcane and Their Antagonistic Activity against Fusarium moniliforme

The use of endophytic bacteria in agriculture provides an effective way of improving crop yield and significantly reducing chemical usage, such as fungicides. This research was conducted to explore endophytic bacteria with plant growth promotion (PGP) and antifungal activities against Fusarium moniliforme AIT01. In this study, we obtained 52 isolates of endophytic bacteria associated with the roots and stems of sugarcane from Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand. In vitro antagonistic activity test showed that 14 out of 52 isolates had antagonistic activity against the fungal pathogen F. moniliforme AIT01. These antagonistic endophytic bacteria were identified as belonging to six different species as follows: Nguyenibacter vanlangensis, Acidomonas methanolica, Asaia bogorensis, Tanticharoenia aidae, Burkholderia gladioli and Bacillus altitudinis based on phenotypic characteristics, along with phylogenetic analysis of their 16S rRNA gene sequences. Seven isolates effectively inhibited F. moniliforme AIT01 mycelial growth by up to 40%. The volatile compounds of six isolates reduced the growth of F. moniliforme AIT01 by over 23%. Moreover, riceberry rice seedlings previously treated with B. gladioli CP28 were found to strongly reduce infection with phytopathogen by 80% in comparison to the non-treated control. Furthermore, the isolates also showed relevant PGP features, including ammonia production, zinc and phosphate solubilisation, auxin and siderophore biosynthesis. These results demonstrated that the tested endophytic bacteria could be successfully utilised as a source of PGP and biocontrol agent to manage diseases caused by F. moniliforme.

NH4OH- KOH Pulping and Single-Stage Bleaching Processes of Banana Pseudostem Waste: A Feasibility Study for Molded Pulp Packaging Use

The NH4OH-KOH pulping was a highly efficient process for extracting banana pseudostem waste (BNW) pulp. Besides, this greener pulping process allowed NH4OH recovery and KOH can be later used as fertilizer, reducing the environmental impact. It was found that the optimal BNW pulping condition was using 8.3 wt% NH4OH and 3.3 wt% KOH at a cooking temperature of 155°C for 1 h, and liquid to solid ratio 6:1. From the results, this process allowed low chemical usage and provided high pulp yield (44%) with a high delignification degree (80%) and low Kappa no. (22). After pulping, the single-stage bleaching of BNW pulp using 8 wt% H2O2 and 1.5 wt% NaOH at 90°C for 1 h was shown to improve the whiteness and brightness of the BNW molded pulp samples to 69.7% and 28.7%ISO (3-fold increase), respectively. As compared to commercial molded pulp food packaging, the present BNW molded pulp exhibited a superior tensile index of 54.3 Nm/g and Young’s modulus of 4.8 GPa.

Sustainable Fiber-Based Materials as Super-bridging Agents, Adsorbents, and Ballast Media

Aggregation combined with gravitational separation is the most commonly used method to treat water globally, but it carries a significant economic and environmental burden as the chemicals used in the process (e.g., coagulants) generate ~8 million tons of metal-based sludge waste annually. To simultaneously deal with the issues of process sustainability, cost, and efficiency, we developed materials reengineered from pristine or waste fibers (e.g., cellulose, polyester, cotton, and keratin) to serve as super-bridging agents, adsorbents and ballast media. This study shows that these sustainable materials (fibers, microspheres, and flakes functionalized with Si, Al and/or Fe) considerably increased the floc size (~6630 µm) compared to conventional physicochemical treatment (~520 µm; using alum and polyacrylamide). The fiber-based materials also reduced chemical usage (20–60 %) and improved contaminant removal during settling by increasing floc size and density. Moreover, the unprecedented size of flocs produced using fiber-based materials (13 times larger compared to conventional treatment) enabled easy floc removal by screening, thereby eliminating the need for a settling tank, a large and costly process unit used to treat more than 70% of water globally. Our results show that fiber-based materials can be effective solutions at removing classical (e.g., natural organic matter (NOM) and phosphorus, via electrostatic affinities) and emerging contaminants (e.g., microplastics and nanoplastics). Due to their large size (> 3000 µm), some Si-grafted and Fe-grafted fiber-based materials were easily recovered from settled/screened sludge and reused multiple times for coagulation/flocculation. These reusable materials combined with separation via screening could allow global water treatment facilities to reduce their capital and operating costs as well as their environmental footprint. Finally, our results also show that these materials could be used in synergy with coagulants and flocculants to improve existing water treatment plants for the removal of NOM, phosphorus, turbidity, total suspended solids and microplastics.

Intensification of a Neutralization Process for Waste Generated from Ion Exchange Regeneration for Expansion of a Chemical Manufacturing Facility

Waste generated during regeneration of Ion Exchanger (IX), used for deionizing water, needs to be neutralized before it can be discharged back to a clean water source. An efficient and novel process is disclosed that minimizes the neutralization volume and chemicals required for pH adjustment. The currently employed neutralization setups in the industry are environmentally unsustainable. Various neutralization setups were studied for treating waste generated from IX regeneration. From the collected plant data, the treatment requirements of waste streams generated during regeneration of IX beds were analyzed. An efficient neutralization setup was developed to lower the operating and capital costs by eliminating the need of some equipment and by lowering the neutralization volume. The new process results in considerable savings compared to currently used processes in the industry and is environmentally benign. The improved neutralization setup proposed in this work has achieved a 63% reduction in volume of IX regeneration waste stream; a 62% reduction in the capital cost; 23% reduction in chemical usage; and a 55% reduction in operating cost. The achieved improvements are quite significant, which are bound to immensely benefit the chemical industries that require demineralized water for their operation.

Synthesis, Characterization And Assessment of Anti Microbial Behaviour of Goat Faecal Mediated Silver Nanoparticles- Fed on Tirumala Hills

To synthesize, characterize, and to assess the anti-microbial activity of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) induced by goat fecal matter. The AgNPs were processed by the microwave heating method and the characterization was accomplished by employing various spectroscopic approaches such as UV-Visible, FTIR spectroscopy, XRD, Particle size, and Zeta potential analysis. The lmax for both extracts were found at 426& 438nm. The wideband corresponded to O-H stretching vibrations at 3384.0 cm-1, 3273.9 cm-1 and 3366.2 cm-1, bands at 2918.5 cm-1, 2922.5 cm-1, 2853.2 cm-1, and 2850.2 cm-1 corresponded to the N–H and C–H stretching. The bands at 1638.1 cm-1, 1651.9, and 1686.5 cm-1 corresponded to the C=C stretch. Bands of 1460.3 cm-1, 1450.4 cm-1, 1409.2 cm-1 and 1376.3 cm-1 corresponded to C-N, C-C bond stretching vibrations. The stretch of C-O indicates bands at 1159.7 cm-1, 1033.2 cm-1, and 1032.8 cm-1. The synthesized AgNPsdemonstrated good anti-microbial activity on gram +Ve (S.aureus) and gram -Ve (E.coli) bacteria. Bio/Green synthesized AgNPs have shown improved biological performance, this tends to minimize production cost, pollution-free, less chemical usage, and stable generation of nanoparticles.

Investigation of poly(lactic acid) nanocapsules containing the plant extract via coaxial electrospraying method for functional nonwoven applications

This study focuses on the development of functional nanocapsules via the coaxial electrohydrodynamic atomization (electrospraying) method. These nanocapsules can manipulate nonwoven surface functionality in terms of antibacterial characteristics for medical textile purposes. Electrosprayed nanocapsules were produced from Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) polymer and Plumbago europaea plant extract. Here, we employ optimized solution and process parameters (needle to collector distance, electrical field, application time, and needle dimension) for the coaxial electrospraying process. Different Plumbago europaea extract concentrations and co-fluids’ flow rates were investigated as part of the study. Also, the effect of these parameters on capsule morphology and dimension were investigated. After the formation of PLA nanocapsules, morphological and dimensional characteristics were analyzed through SEM, FESEM, TEM images in addition to FTIR and nanosize measurements. According to our findings, a lower co-fluids’ flow rate gives the smaller nanocapsules with narrow-sized distribution and desired spherical morphology. Antibacterial efficiency doesn’t show any significant difference except the lowest plant extract concentrations. After characterizing the nanocapsules’ structures, the core-sheath structure can be clearly identified. Consequently, the desired capsule morphology and size for nanocapsules were accomplished. The antibacterial efficiency of covered surfaces with nanocapsules is up to 80% for Staphylococcus aureus and about 31% for Escherichia coli, even with low pick-up ratios. Even for a very low amount of extract usage, good antibacterial efficiency can be achieved. The application has endless potential in terms of higher concentration and a wide range of chemical usage.

ANALYSIS OF USE OF AGRO-CHEMICALS AMONG VEGETABLE FARMERS IN MAIDUGURI AND ITS ENVIRONS, NIGERIA

The study analysed the use of agro-chemicals among vegetable farmers in Maiduguri and its environs in Nigeria. Primary data were mainly used for the study. Multi - stage sampling techniques was employed to select 160 vegetable farmers for this study. Both descriptive (frequency distribution, percentages and mean scores) and inferential (regression analysis) statistics were used to analyze the data. The studies revealed that majority (77.50%) of the respondents were male and married (85.63%). The results indicated that majority (70.0%) of the respondents had 7 and above years of formal education. On the vegetable farmer’s sources of information on agro-chemical usage, the study revealed that most (50%) of the respondents got information on agrochemicals from other farmers, followed by stockists with 20%. Most (36.80%) of the respondents showed that they make use of herbicides than other forms of agro-chemicals. The farm size (ha) and income of the respondents has a positive and significant coefficient with p values of 0.000 at 1% level each. The major constraints considered as severe on the use of agro-chemicals among the respondents were high cost of supplies (mean score = 2.16), irregular supplies and insufficient farm incomes (mean score = 2.10) each which were ranked 1st and 2nd respectively. The study recommended those agricultural extension organizations and other stakeholders such as the Ministry of agriculture to carry out improved mobilization and sensitization campaigns to educate farmers on proper and efficient use of agro-chemicals with a view to improving productivity as well as prevent adverse environmental and human health effects.