Sharif Digital Repository

Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer flooding is one of the most novel chemical enhanced oil recovery methods in the petroleum industry. This method has attracted interest due to its remarkable advantages. In this work, a series of ASP floods are conducted on fractured/non-fractured carbonate rocks. The performance of the tests was investigated by various ASP floods consisting of five types of polymers, two surfactants and one common alkaline. ASP was flooded simultaneously and sequentially in four defined scenarios after water flooding. The results showed that although using hydrolysed polymers increases the recovery factor in the fractured medium, sulfonated polymers increase oil recovery even more... 

The connectivity of high conductivity pathways in geological formations depend on the spatial distribution of geological heterogeneities that may appear on various length scales. Appropriate modeling of this is crucial within in hydrology and petroleum systems. The approach taken in this study is to use percolation theory to quantify the connectivity, hydraulic conductivity, and breakthrough time behavior between an injector and a producer within such systems. In particular, a three-dimensional overlapping sandbody model is considered which assumes that the geological formation can be split into either conductive flow units (i. e., good sands) or non-conductive units (i. e., poor sands). The... 

Numerical simulation of the electrical field distribution helps in-depth understanding of the mechanisms behind the responses and the benefits of the high voltage pulse comminution. The COMSOL Multiphysics package was used to numerically simulate the effect of ore compositions in this study. Regarding phosphate ore particles shape and composition, the effects of mineral composition, particle size, particle shape and electrodes distance were investigated on the electrical field intensity and distribution. The results show that the induced electrical field is significantly dependent on the electrical properties of minerals, the feed particle size and the location of conductive minerals in... 

Utilizing improved production methods have been always challenging in upstream industries. Nowadays, hydraulic fracturing is one of the most prestigious mechanical methods. Application of this method is in wells with low productivity index. Hydraulic fracturing efficiency depends on various factors, such as fracture geometry, fluid composition, and stress distribution. But some of them would be ignored, such as fracture geometry, which is neglected due to nongravity and lack of investigation of DFN statistical population assumption. The authors develop a more comprehensive methodology based on fracture geometry and aim to model one of the gas reservoirs in Iran that is naturally fractured by... 

A multi-echelon supply chain design problem concerns the structure of the network and allocation of resources of the company to meet the demand forecast. This paper tries to design a multi-echelon supply chain network with five echelons including supplier, cross-dock, plant, distribution center and representative (customer). For this purpose, a mixed-integer mathematical model is developed to investigate the location of cross-docks, distribution centers, and also allocation between each pair of parties in order to minimize total cost of location and transportation. Due to the complexity of the model, a novel genetic algorithm is developed and applied on a real-world case study of Iran Khodro... 

The density jump on an inclined surface is analyzed using an integral method by applying mass and momentum conservation equations. The jump occurs in a two-layered fluid flow in which the upper layer is stagnant and very deep. A relation is derived, which gives the conjugate depth ratio as a function of inlet densimetric Froude number, inlet concentration ratio, bed slope and entrainment. A set of experiments are performed to verify the relation. The theory and the measurements are in good agreement. The analysis reveals that increasing the surface inclination results in a decrease in the conjugate depth ratio. This analysis also shows that the densimetric Froude number just after the jump... 

This paper presents the results of an analytical study on the dynamic characteristics of the Shaking Table facilities at Sharif University. This 3 degree of freedom shaking table is driven by 3 servo-control hydraulic actuators, and consists of a 12 ton, 4m×4m×0.6m steel deck. The main objective of this investigation is to identify the degree of flexibility of the deck, and its adverse effects in causing errors in the simulation of seismic effects on different structural specimens. Many frame specimens of different weights and configurations are subjected to seismic motions, and their responses are calculated using FE models. Some of these models were designed to account for eccentric... 

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to apply a hybrid neuro-fuzzy paradigm called self-organizing neuro-fuzzy multilayered classifier (SONeFMUC) to classify the operating faults of a hydraulic system. The main motivation behind the use of SONeFMUC is to attest the capabilities of neuro-fuzzy classifier for handling the difficulties associated with fault diagnosis of hydraulic circuits. Design/methodology/approach: In the proposed methodology, first, the neuro-fuzzy nodes at each layer of the SONeFMUC are trained separately using two well-known bio-inspired algorithms, i.e. a semi deterministic method with random walks called co-variance matrix adaptation evolutionary strategy (CMA-ES) and... 

The details of the Element Free Galerkin (EFG) method are presented with the method being applied to a study on hydraulic fracturing initiation and propagation process in a saturated porous medium using coupled hydro-mechanical numerical modelling. In this EFG method, interpolation (approximation) is based on nodes without using elements and hence an arbitrary discrete fracture path can be modelled.The numerical approach is based upon solving two governing partial differential equations of equilibrium and continuity of pore water simultaneously. Displacement increment and pore water pressure increment are discretized using the same EFG shape functions. An incremental constrained Galerkin... 

Porosity and specific surface are two prominent factors in describing the hydraulic properties of porous media. Determination of these two important parameters leads to identify the capability of porous media to conduct the fluids. In the present study, a new relationship between porosity and specific surface of sandstones has been developed. Micro-CT data from 10 types of sandstones has been utilized in order to present a porosity-specific surface correlation. This correlation also contains the average grain radius of each rock obtained by image processing algorithms. Finally, the correlation is tested on the provided data to evaluate its precision. The simplicity and applicability of the... 

In this paper, the crack growth simulation is presented in saturated porous media using the extended finite element method. The mass balance equation of fluid phase and the momentum balance of bulk and fluid phases are employed to obtain the fully coupled set of equations in the framework of u - p formulation. The fluid flow within the fracture is modeled using the Darcy law, in which the fracture permeability is assumed according to the well-known cubic law. The spatial discritization is performed using the extended finite element method, the time domain discritization is performed based on the generalized Newmark scheme, and the non-linear system of equations is solved using the... 

The fresh groundwater lenses (FGLs) of small islands can be highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, including sea-level rise (SLR). Many real cases of atoll or sandy islands involve two-layer hydrogeological conceptualizations. In this paper, the influential factors that affect FGLs in two-layer small islands subject to SLR are investigated. An analytical solution describing FGLs in circular islands, composed of two geological layers, is developed for the simplified case of steady-state and sharp-interface conditions. An application of the developed model is demonstrated to estimate the FGL thickness of some real-world islands by comparison with existing FGL thickness data. Furthermore,... 

The capability level of rotary as well as first generation drilling operation could not be matched for deeply drilling programs. To reach that deep, the increasing in drill string length could also cause an additional constraint on hydraulic performance. The operation of slim hole drilling has significant potential to reduce well costs. This cost might be savings are especially important with increased demand for reduced capital finance under current economic conditions in the Iranian oil and gas industry. This savings achievement could be caused by use of smaller drilling rigs, work over rigs, reduced casing size, reducing requirement for drilling consumables and other costs associated with... 

A rectangular labyrinth weir has a very good flood release capacity as well as strong economical and structural advantages. In this study, combined analytical and experimental investigations were undertaken for a rectangular labyrinth weir. The analytical model is based on the synthesis of general weir equations and spatially varied flow dynamic equations. A comprehensive set of experiments led to characterisation of the flow behaviour for low and high heads over the weir and indicated the influences of weir geometry on the release capacity. The results show that this type of weir represents an effective weir alternative and could be five times more efficient than a corresponding traditional... 

Currently, the thermal management of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) has become a challenge. In the present research, a micro pulsating heat pipe (MPHP) with a hydraulic diameter of 508 lm, is experimented. The thermal performance of the MPHP in both the transient and steady conditions, the effects of the working fluid (water, silver nanofluid, and ferrofluid), heating power (4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, and 28 W), charging ratio (20, 40, 60, and 80%), inclination angle (0 deg, 25 deg, 45 deg, 75 deg, and 90 deg relative to horizontal axis), and the application of magnetic field, are investigated and thoroughly discussed. The experimental results show that the optimum charging ratio for water... 

Pressure transient analysis in vertically heterogeneous reservoirs is examined. The inclusion of a separate model for the free fluid flow in the wellbore is essential to allow for hydraulic communication and mixing of the fluid issuing from different reservoir layers. A two-dimensional model coupling Darcy flow in the reservoir with Navier-Stokes flow in the wellbore is developed and solved by the finite element technique. The coupled wellbore-reservoir flow model is used to analyze a layered reservoir with an abrupt change in permeability and a thick formation showing a gradual change in permeability with depth. Contrary to conventional reservoir models, this new model is able to capture... 

A new flow model of high performance light water reactor (HPLWR) is discussed in the present study. HPLWR involves a negative density reactivity coefficient with high time delay. This factor decreases the stability of such reactors when transient and abnormal accidents happen. A new design for enhancing safety and efficiency in such reactors is presented. In the new design, the fluid passing through the moderator channels and the assembly gaps (known as a moderator) flows in channels detached from coolants. It is possible to control the moderator mass flux. Increasing or decreasing the moderator mass flux will modify the moderation capacity, which results in a change in the reactor power.... 

The High-Performance Light Water Reactor (HPLWR) is the European version of the Supercritical-pressure Water Cooled Reactor (SCWR). Light water reactors at supercritical pressure, being currently under design, are the new generation of nuclear reactors. The present article is a thermal-hydraulic analysis of the HPLWR fuel assembly cluster. The existing thermal hydraulic codes are not capable of analyzing and designing the HPLWR fuel assembly. It is necessary to introduce a new thermal-hydraulic code that can incorporate the parameters and specifications of the HPLWR fuel assembly. The governing equations include energy, mass and momentum equations beside thermal-hydraulic equations are... 

This work takes a new approach to solving non-hydrostatic equations of layered flows over bottom topography. A perturbation technique is used to find explicit expressions for a flow for different regimes of single- and two-layer flows over a sill. Excellent agreement with previous solutions and experimental data is obtained, and more details of the non-hydrostatic flow over a sill are revealed. The proposed method is simple and compact and removes the need for complex numerical techniques to solve the non-hydrostatic equations. It is shown that in the approach-controlled regime of two-layer flow over a sill, the flow upstream and farther downstream the sill crest can be described by the... 

Low back pain is a common reason for activity limitation in people younger than 45 years old, and was proved to be associated with heavy physical works, repetitive lifting, impact, stationary work postures and vibrations. The study of load transferring and the loading condition encountered in spinal column can be simulated by finite element models. The intervertebral disc is a structure composed of a porous material. Many physical models were developed to simulate this phenomenon. The confounding effects of poroelastic properties and loading conditions on disc mechanical responses are, nevertheless, not cleared yet. The objective of this study was to develop an axisymmetric poroelastic...