The Implementation of Critical Gas Rate in Liquid Loading Well and Optimization Analysis using the Adequacy Chart

In the gas well, liquid loading occurs when the gas rate is insufficient to lift liquids into the surface such as water and/or condensate. This causes an accumulation of the liquid in the wellbore, supplies additional backpressure to the formation, and may completely kill the well. Meanwhile, the limited space and typically high cost of offshore operations have made a proper study for optimization selection very essential. The selected project must fulfill several requirements, namely: 1) Fit for the purpose, 2) Low risk and uncertainties, and 3) Economic. Hence, this study will describe the pilot project and continuous improvement process of lowering the gas well pressure using a wellhead compressor and a temporary separator to optimize the liquid loading. It also explains the implementation of critical gas rate in predicting the liquid loading event from the well’s production history. A new analysis method utilizing the adequacy chart was proposed to verify the suitability of the available pressure-lowering system unit available in the market with the well candidates. An adequacy chart was constructed from the well’s deliverability, critical gas rate, and lowering pressure unit or system capacity. These three charts will combine to generate an overlapping area, which signifies suitability for the recommended operation. The well’s production data history can be used to predict the liquid loaded-up event due to the continued decline of the generated gas. Also, a combination of the critical gas rate and decline analyses can predict potential liquid loading problems.

From Compliance to Improvement: How School Leaders Make Sense of Institutional and Technical Demands When Implementing a Continuous Improvement Process

Purpose: A recurring frustration in educational research is the tendency for school leaders to implement reforms in ways that prioritize compliance over more substantive improvements to practice. Drawing on new institutional theory and sensemaking theory, this article explores the different ways leaders respond to continuous improvement (CI) reforms and why they frequently privilege external compliance over the perceived needs of their schools. Methods: This study used interviews, observations, and artifacts to analyze how six leaders across two midwestern school districts led the implementation of a CI method. Data analysis involved an iterative process of identifying emergent themes, refining themes based on existing research, and evaluating their usefulness in explaining differences within and across school leaders, in order to understand the different ways leaders responded to CI and what factors caused them to prioritize compliance over substantive improvement. Findings: Findings illuminate six different responses to CI that vary across three dimensions: whether leaders prioritize bridging or buffering, the form or the function of reform, and concerns for external legitimacy or internal improvement. Leaders’ professional identities, their beliefs about the usefulness of CI, and their perception of district regulation contributed to whether they implemented CI in a way that prioritized concerns for legitimacy over improvement. Implications: These findings trace the shallow reach of recent reform efforts to the ways leaders make sense of the complex institutional and technical demands of their role, offer an integrative typology of leaders’ different approaches to implementation, and identify factors that support more productive responses to district reform.

The AAA Approach to Crash Investigation Reform – The Perspective from Road Policing Practitioners.

Professional road crash investigation, complemented by intelligent analysis and dynamic actions provide the foundation for road safety reform. However, to date, the real potential resulting from police investigative findings have not been fully realised due to the lack of streamlined connectivity from the crash scene to the reform process. Such deficiencies include inadequate investigations, inadequate data management, convoluted processes, system delays, inadequate analysis and limited immediate and mid-term actions which should be generated following thorough and efficient investigations. A review of processes across high, medium and low-income countries has identified a more effective approach to achieving results in road safety reform across all road safety disciplines. The simple AAA framework to ‘Acquire, Analyse and Action’ is presented as a contemporary model to ensure an evidence-based foundation drives road safety reform to identify root cause analysis locally, nationally and globally. This provides structure, discipline and purpose as well as technical skill and competence to achieve practical recommendations as preventative measures for crash reduction. A multi-disciplined expert review team to validate/assess/modify these recommendations in serious crashes ensures constructive countermeasures are prioritised and actioned. This facilitates a paradigm shift in thinking and analysis to achieve a continuous improvement process designed to reduce road trauma and save lives.

On the Four Eras of the Use of the Ocean by Mankind

This paper takes the relationship between humans and the ocean as the object of analysis, from the perspective of human use of the ocean, four era theories on the relationship between humans and the ocean are proposed, i.e., in the first era, the ocean is a geographic barrier for mankind; in the second era, the ocean is a road for human transportation; in the third era, the ocean is a granary for mankind; in the fourth era, the ocean is a treasure house of mankind’s natural resources. Viewing from the last three eras, we can know that the ocean plays an important role in promoting the creation, production, and accumulation of human wealth. This paper argues the four-era theory of the relationship between humans and the ocean, also get the following conclusion: every era has the most significant feature of this era. This most significant feature function is the most important, largest, latest, and trendy contribution of the oceans to humans in this era; the four-era theory of the relationship between humans and the ocean also shows the continuous improvement process of human influence and utilization of the oceans; the continuous improvement of human influence and utilization of the ocean is realized by improvement of science and technology; the ability of humans to influence and utilize the oceans in the second era surpassed the first era is due to advances in shipbuilding technology and navigation technology; humans’ ability to influence and utilize the ocean in the third era surpassed the second era due to advances in biotechnology; and the ability of humans to influence and utilize the ocean in the fourth era surpassed the third era due to the advancement and application of all-round science and technology; Historically, once a country has maritime hegemony, this country would become wealthy, powerful, and the leaders of maritime civilization.

Process improvement methodology selection in manufacturing: A literature review perspective

Problems in manufacturing have always been a hurdle for leadership, engineers, and professionals. They can lead to low productivity, poor quality, high costs, and ultimately loss of customers. Problems should be prevented by fair means and following well-established methodologies of continuous process improvement. The present paper addresses this topic, which in both academic and professional literature has been discussed from one single angle–that is, how to use a specific methodology in a certain situation. From that perspective, researchers from academia and consultancy promote the use of a particular method. One of the greatest challenges to researchers and practitioners in manufacturing is to select the right methodology for problem-solving and process improvement. The present paper attempts to address this issue from a literature review perspective. The approach followed is based on the fact that understanding the attributes of process improvement methodologies reported in the open literature and their linkages to the main phases of the continuous improvement process will provide insights on how the selection of the methodologies can be carried out in real manufacturing situations.

A Cognitive Approach to Assessing the Materials in Problem-Based Learning Environments

Aim/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop and evaluate a debiasing-based approach to assessing the learning materials in problem-based learning (PBL) environments. Background: Research in cognitive debiasing suggests nine debiasing strategies improve decision-making. Given the large number of decisions made in semester-long, problem-based learning projects, multiple tools and techniques help students make decisions. However, instructors may struggle to identify the specific tools or techniques that could be modified to best improve students’ decision-making in the project. Furthermore, a structured approach for identifying these modifications is lacking. Such an approach would match the debiasing strategies with the tools and techniques. Methodology: This debiasing framework for the PBL environment is developed through a study of debiasing literature and applied within an e-commerce course using the Model for Improvement, continuous improvement process, as an illustrative case to show its potential. In addition, a survey of the students, archival information, and participant observation provided feedback on the debiasing framework and its ability to assess the tools and techniques within the PBL environment. Contribution: This paper demonstrates how debiasing theory can be used within a continuous improvement process for PBL courses. By focusing on a cognitive debiasing-based approach, this debiasing framework helps instructors 1) identify what tools and techniques to change in an PBL environment, and 2) assess which tools and techniques failed to debias the students adequately, providing potential changes for future cycles. Findings: Using the debiasing framework in an e-commerce course with significant PBL elements provides evidence that this framework can be used within IS courses and more broadly. In this particular case, the change identified in a prior cycle proved effective and additional issues were identified for improvement. Recommendations for Practitioners: With the growing usage of semester-long PBL projects in business schools, instructors need to ensure that their design of the projects incorporates techniques that improve student learning and decision making. This approach provides a means for assessing the quality of that design. Recommendation for Researchers: This study uses debiasing theory to improve course techniques. Researchers interested in assessment, course improvement, and program improvement should incorporate debiasing theory within PBL environments or other types of decision-making scenarios. Impact on Society: Increased awareness of cognitive biases can help instructors, students, and professionals make better decisions and recommendations. By developing a framework for evaluating cognitive debiasing strategies, we help instructors improve projects that prepare students for complex and multifaceted real-world projects. Future Research: The approach could be applied to multiple contexts, within other courses, and more widely within information systems to extend this research. The framework might also be refined to make it more concise, integrated with assessment, or usable in more contexts.

Improved Productivity of Document Verification Process Using the Lean Sigma Method

In the industrial era 4.0 emerged smart companies using the concept of automation and digitization. This has had an impact on printing companies which are experiencing a decline in the global rate of newspaper growth in the next five years. Therefore, many companies conduct Improvement and Innovation activities and eliminate waste in order to continue to survive and be able to compete. This research aims to identify the types of waste that occur in the flow of the process of activities, analyze the factors that cause waste, as well as provide proposals for minimizing waste. The method used in this study is lean sigma which is a combination of lean and six sigma to identify and eliminate waste in an effort to improve the continuous improvement process. In this study conducted with Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) stage in accordance with the steps in Six Sigma. This research is focused on improving the productivity of continuous improvement verification process with lean sigma method.

Ten Years of Positive Feedback on Project-Based Learning From First-Year Engineering Students’ Perspective

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is an active student-centered learning methodology. Several schools (of varying degrees of education) have implemented, in different ways, PBL, having as common strands that the student learns in teams, and being challenged in the context of a case-scenario. In Portugal, a PBL methodology has been implemented, in the first year of an Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) program, for more than 15 years. This represents a total number above 700 students of IEM enrolled in PBL during the reported timeframe. A continuous improvement process of the PBL activities was relentlessly pursued during such period. Grounded on end-of-term on-line PBL process satisfaction questionnaires, as well as on results of each PBL edition final workshops, this paper studies and reports on a number of such achievements and shortcomings. Thus, this paper presents the analysis of the results of ten academic years of PBL evaluation process, grounded on the compiled results obtained from 2009/10 to 2019/20. Also, a synthesis of the effective findings (either positive or negative), systematically pointed out by the students, will be presented. Altogether, the PBL implementation in the IEM program has been very positive for students and teachers and worth for others to follow.