Optimization of Injection Molding of Automotive Plastic Horn Cover Part Using Taguchi Method and Reverse Engineering

The aim of the paper consisted in the development of an injection mold for plastic horn cover parts in commercial vehicles. Three mold types were designed in anticipation of the structure and quality of molds, and injection molding numerical analyses were conducted for the three types of molds. One mold type was selected in consideration of the resin flow patterns inside the mold, surface quality, and final deflection amount of the horn cover. To perform optimal injection molding using the selected mold, optimization of injection molding parameters was performed using the Taguchi method, one of the designs of experiment (DOE) and ANOVA methods. As a result, it was confirmed that the deflection amount of the molding under optimal molding parameters decreased by about 34.3% compared to the deflection amount before optimization of the molding parameters. Based on these encouraging results, the previously selected mold type was actually manufactured. The horn cover was molded using the obtained optimal injection molding parameters to the manufactured mold. To verify the precision of the molded horn cover, the deflection amount of the molding was measured with a 3D scanner. The deflection amount of the horn cover was estimated to be about 11% to 43% larger for each measurement position than the deflection amounts in the analysis results. The manufactured mold was revised to solve the problem that the deflection amount of the actual molding is larger than the deflection amount predicted by injection molding analysis. The dimensions and surface quality of the horn cover with a revised mold were satisfactory.

Numerical simulation and optimization of CO2 enhanced gas recovery in homogeneous and vertical heterogeneous reservoir models

CO2 enhanced gas recovery (CO2-EGR) is a promising, environment-friendly technology with simultaneously sequestering CO2. The goals of this paper are to conduct simulations of CO2-EGR in both homogeneous and heterogeneous reservoirs to evaluate effects of gravity and reservoir heterogeneity, and to determine optimal CO2 injection time and injection rate for achieving better natural gas recovery by employing a genetic algorithm integrated with TOUGH2. The results show that gravity segregation retards upward migration of CO2 and promotes horizontal displacement efficiency, and the layers with low permeability in heterogeneous reservoir hinder the upward migration of CO2. The optimal injection time is determined as the depleted stage, and the corresponding injection rate is optimized. The optimal recovery factors are 62.83 % and 64.75 % in the homogeneous and heterogeneous reservoirs (804.76 m × 804.76 m × 45.72 m), enhancing production by 22.32 × 103 and 23.00 × 103 t of natural gas and storing 75.60 × 103 and 72.40 × 103 t CO2 with storage efficiencies of 70.55 % and 67.56 %, respectively. The cost/benefit analysis show that economic income of about 8.67 and 8.95 million USD can be obtained by CO2-EGR with optimized injection parameters respectively. This work could assist in determining optimal injection strategy and economic benefits for industrial scale gas reservoirs.

Numerical Study of Reactive Flow in Fractured Carbonate Rock

Acidizing technology is an effective reformation method of oil and gas reservoirs. It can also remove the reservoir pollution near wellbore zones and enhance the fluid transmissibility. The optimal injection rate of acid is one of the key factors to reduce cost and improve the effect of acidizing. Therefore, the key issue is to find the optimal injection rate during acid corrosion in fractured carbonate rock. In this work, a novel reactive flow mathematical model based on two-scale model and discrete fracture model is established for fractured carbonate reservoirs. The matrix and fracture are described by a two-scale model and a discrete fracture model, respectively. Firstly, the two-scale model for matrix is combined with the discrete fracture model. Then, an efficient numerical scheme based on the finite element method is implemented to solve the corresponding dimensionless equations. Finally, several important aspects, such as the influence of the injection rate of acid on the dissolution patterns, the influence of fracture aperture and fracture orientations on the dissolution structure, the breakthrough volume of injected acid, and the dynamic change of fracture aperture during acidizing, are analyzed. The numerical simulation results show that there is an optimal injection rate in fractured carbonate rock. However, the fractures do not have an impact on the optimal acid injection rate, they only have an impact on the dissolution structure.

Laboratory Studies For Design of a Foam Pilot For Reducing Gas Channeling From Gas Cap in Production Well in Messoyakhskoye Field

Messoyakhskoye field, operated by Gazprom Neft, is currently experiencing gas channeling from gas cap in production wells because of strong heterogeneity. Foam for a long has been considered as a good candidate for gas blocking, (Svorstol I. et al., 1996), (Hanssen, J. E., & Dalland, M. 1994), (Aarra, M. G. et al., 1996). However, foam injection for gas blocking in injection well is different from that in production well, where it is necessary to selectively and long-term impact on gas-saturated highly permeable areas without affecting the phase permeability of oil in the reservoir. This paper provides detailed laboratory studies that show how to determine suitable foam systems for gas blocking in production well. For gas blocking in production well, a long half-life time is required to sustain stable foam because a continuous shear of surfactant solution/gas can't be achieved like in injection well. Therefore, reinforced foam by polymer is chosen. Four polymer stabilizers and five foam agents were evaluated using bulk test to determine foaming ability, foam stability, and effect of oil by comparing foam rate and half-life time to determine the suitable foam system. Furthermore, filtration experiments were conducted at reservoir conditions to determine the optimal injection mode by evaluating apparent viscosity, breakthrough pressure gradient, resistance factor, and residual resistance factor. Polymer can significantly improve half-life time (increase foam stability), and the higher the polymer concentration, the longer the half-life time. But simultaneously, a high polymer concentration will increase the initial viscosity of solution, which not only decreases the foam rate, but also increases difficulties in injection. Therefore, an optimal polymer concentration of about 0.15-0.2 wt% is determined considering all these influences. Filtration experiments showed that the apparent viscosity in core first increased and then deceased with foam quality (the ratio of gas volume to foam volume (gas + liquid). The optimal injection mode is co-injection of surfactant/polymer solution and gas to in-situ generate foam at the optimal foam quality of about 0.65. Filtration experiments on the different permeability cores showed that gas-blocking ability of polymer reinforced foam is better in high-permeability cores, which is beneficial for blocking high permeability zone. It should be also noted that under a certain ratio of oil to foam solution (about lower than 1 to 1), the presence of oil slowly decreased foam rate with increasing oil volume, but significantly increased half -life time, which is favorable for foam treatment in production well. This work highlights the difference between foam injection for gas blocking in production well and injection well, and emphasizes the use of polymer reinforced foam. Moreover, this work shows systematic experimental methods for choosing suitable foam systems for gas blocking in production well considering different factors, which provides a guide regarding what kinds of foaming agents and polymer stabilizers should be used and how to evaluate them for designing a pilot application.

Taguchi Optimization of Roundness and Concentricity of a Plastic Injection Molded Barrel of a Telecentric Lens

Plastic is an attractive material for the fabrication of tubular optical instruments due to its light weight, high strength, and ease of processing. However, for plastic components fabricated using the injection molding technique, roundness and concentricity remain an important concern. For example, in the case of a telecentric lens, concentricity errors of the lens barrel result in optical aberrations due to the deviation of the light path, while roundness errors cause radial stress due to the mismatch of the lens geometry during assembly. Accordingly, the present study applies the Taguchi design methodology to determine the optimal injection molding parameters which simultaneously minimize both the overall roundness and the overall concentricity of the optical barrel. The results show that the geometrical errors of the optical barrel are determined mainly by the melt temperature, the packing pressure, and the cooling time. The results also show that the optimal processing parameters reduce the average volume shrinkage rate (from 4.409% to 3.465%) and the average deformations from (0.592 mm to 0.469 mm) of the optical barrel, and the corresponding standard deviation values are reduced from 1.528% to 1.297% and from 0.263 mm to 0.211 mm, respectively. In addition, the overall roundness and overall concentricity of the barrel in the four planes are positively correlated.

Technology for Preventing the Wax Deposit Formation in Gas-Lift Wells at Offshore Oil and Gas Fields in Vietnam

Within the past few decades, the production of high-wax oils at offshore fields in Vietnam has been fraught with severe problems due to the intense formation of asphalt-resin-paraffin deposits (ARPD) in the downhole oil and gas equipment. The formation of organic wax deposits in the tubing string led to a significant decrease in gas-lift wells production, efficiency of compressor units, transport capacity of the piping systems, along with an increase in equipment failure. Subsequently, the efficiency of gas-lift wells dramatically decreased to less than 40% as a whole. The existing methods and technologies for combating organic wax deposit formation in downhole equipment have many advantages. However, their use in producing high-wax anomalous oil does not entirely prevent the wax formation in the tubing string and leads to a significant reduction in oil production, transport capacity, and treatment intervals. The results of theoretical and experimental studies presented in this article demonstrate that a promising approach to improve the efficiency of gas-lift wells during the production of high-wax oil is to use the technology of periodic injection of hot associated petroleum gas (APG) into the annulus of an oil-producing well. The effectiveness of the proposed method of combating wax formation in gas-lift wells highly depends on the combination of a few factors: the determination of wax deposit formation intensity in the well and the implementation of a set of preparatory measures to determine the optimal injection mode of hot APG (flow rate and injection depth) into the annulus between tubing strings and technological pipes. The injection depth of the hot APG should not be less than the depth of wax formation in the tubing string. The optimal injection rate of hot APG is determined by analyzing and mathematically modeling the APG injection system based on well-known thermodynamic laws.

Investigations of Structural and Residual Trapping Phenomena during CO2 Sequestration in Deccan Volcanic Province of the Saurashtra Region, Gujarat

This work aims to study the structural and residual trapping mechanisms on the Deccan traps topography to elucidate the possible implementation of CO2 geological sequestration. This study provides an insight into a selection of stairsteps landscape from Deccan traps in the Saurashtra region, Gujarat, India. Various parameters affect the efficiency of the structural and residual trapping mechanisms. Thus, the parametric study is conducted on the modeled synthetic geological domain by considering the suitable injection points for varying injection rates and petrophysical properties. The outcomes of this study will provide insights into the dependencies of structural and residual trapping on the Deccan traps surface topography and injection rates. It can also establish a protocol for selecting the optimal injection points with the desired injection rate for the safe and efficient implementation of CO2 sequestration. The simulation results of this study have shown the dependencies of structural and residual trapping on the geological domain parameters.

Optimal injection interval for testosterone undecanoate treatment of hypogonadal and transgender men

Objective: To define the optimized inter-injection interval of injectable testosterone undecanoate (TU) treatment for hypogonadal and transmen based on individual dose titration in routine clinical practice. Design and Methods: Prolective observational study of consecutive TU injections in men undergoing testosterone replacement therapy for pathological hypogonadism or masculinization of female-to-male transgender (transmen) subject to individual dosing titration to achieve a stable replacement regimen. Results: From 2006 to 2019, 6899 injections were given to 325 consecutive patients. After excluding the 6-week loading dose, 6300 injections were given to 297 patients who had at least three and a median of 14 injections. The optimal injection interval (mean of last three injection intervals), had a median of 12.0 weeks (interquartile range 10.4–12.7 weeks). The interval was significantly influenced by age and body size (body surface area, BSA) but not by diagnosis or trough serum LH, FSH and SHBG. Longer (≥14 weeks; 68/297, 23%), but not shorter (≤10 weeks; 22/297, 7.4%), intervals were weakly correlated with age but not diagnosis or other covariables. Low blood hemoglobin increased with trough serum testosterone to reach plateau once testosterone was about 10 nmol/L or higher. Conclusion: Optimal intervals between TU injection after individual titration resulted in the approved 12-week interval in 70% of patients with only minor influence for clinical application of age and body size (BSA) and not of trough serum LH, FSH and SHBG. Individually optimised inter-injection interval did not differ between men with primary or secondary hypogonadism or transmen.

Gas Lift Performance of Some Horizontal Wells in Ahdeb Oil Field

Ahdeb is one of the Iraqi oil fields, its crude characterized by medium API (22.5-28.9) and highly reservoir pressure depletion from Khasib formation due to lack of water drive. This makes it difficult to produce economic oil rates. Therefore, many water injection wells were drilled by the operators to maintain the reservoir pressure during production. In addition to that, electrical submersible pumps (ESP) were used in some productive wells. This study suggests exploitation of gas associated with oil production to be recycled to lift oil as a substitute for the ESP .The work in this study includes using PIPSIM software to build a model of four studied productive wells (AD1-11-2H, AD2-15-2H, AD4-13-3H, A4-19-1H) after choosing the suited correlation for each well. According to the statistical results, Mukherjee & Brill correlation is the best option for all wells. The use of PIPESIM software include determining artificial lift performance to determine the optimum amount of gas injected, optimum injection pressure as well as the optimum injection depth and knowing the impact of these factors on production, as well as the determination of the optimal injection conditions when water cut changes. According to the current circumstances of the wells, the depth optimized for injection is the maximum allowable depth of injection which is deeper than the packer by 100 ft and the amount of injection gas is (1.5, 1, 1, and 1) MMscf/day for wells (AD2-11-2H, AD2-15-2H, AD4-13-3H, and AD4-19-2H) sequentially and injection pressure (2050, 2050, 2050, and 2000) psi for wells (AD2-11-2H, AD2-15-2H, AD4-13-3H, and AD4-19-2H) sequentially.