New nanotechnology-based approaches are increasingly being investigated for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), with a particular focus on heavy oil reservoirs. Typically, the addition of a polymer to an injection fluid advances the sweep efficiency and mobility ratio of the fluid and leads to a higher crude oil recovery rate. However, harsh reservoir conditions, including high formation salinity and temperature, can limit the performance of such polymer fluids. Recently, nanofluids, that is, dispersions of nanoparticles (NPs) in a base fluid, have been recommended as EOR fluids; however, such nanofluids are unstable, even under ambient conditions. In this work, a combination of ZrO2 NPs and the polyacrylamide (PAM) polymer (ZrO2 NPs–PAM) was used to formulate a novel nanopolymer injection solution for EOR applications to overcome the limitations of simple PAM solutions by the in situ reservoir conditions including high temperature and salinity. A series of measurements were comprehended at controlled pH values to measure the stability and rheological properties of NPs–PAM combinations at different temperatures, salinities, NP concentrations, and shear rates. It is depicted from the results that a higher salinity decreased the viscosity of the polymer formulation. However, ZrO2 NPs–PAM combinations reduced the effect of increased salinity on viscosity, which is essential for EOR applications. Furthermore, at low and medium shear rates, which are more relevant to the flow scenarios in oil reservoirs, ZrO2 NPs–PAM exhibited a higher viscosity than the PAM solution at the same pH and salinity. In contrast, at higher shear rates, the viscosity of ZrO2 NPs–PAM was less than that of the sole PAM solution. Mechanistically, an increased shear rate endorsed the adsorption of polymer molecules onto the surface of NPs, foremost to a lesser polymer concentration in the solution. Moreover, although ZrO2 nanodispersion was unstable at all NPs and salt concentrations, ZrO2 NPs–PAM was stable over an extensive range of salinities and temperatures. The results suggested that ZrO2 NPs–PAM is more suitable than the sole polymer or NP solutions for EOR projects.
The current research aimed to identify the tasks performed by the internal auditors when developing a business continuity plan to face the COVID-19 crisis. It also aims to identify the recovery and resuming plan to the business environment. The research followed the descriptive survey to find out the views of 34 internal auditors at various functional levels in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Spreadsheets (Excel) were used to analyze the data collected by a questionnaire which composed of 43 statements, covering the tasks that the internal auditors can perform to face the COVID-19 crisis. Results revealed that the tasks performed by the internal auditors when developing a business continuity plan to face the COVID-19 crisis is to en
... Show MoreThe purpose of this paper is to model and forecast the white oil during the period (2012-2019) using volatility GARCH-class. After showing that squared returns of white oil have a significant long memory in the volatility, the return series based on fractional GARCH models are estimated and forecasted for the mean and volatility by quasi maximum likelihood QML as a traditional method. While the competition includes machine learning approaches using Support Vector Regression (SVR). Results showed that the best appropriate model among many other models to forecast the volatility, depending on the lowest value of Akaike information criterion and Schwartz information criterion, also the parameters must be significant. In addition, the residuals
... Show MoreIntroduction. Epilepsy is a progressive, chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. Peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) (MP) is one of the most commonly ingested herbal teas or tisanes with a single component. Aim. We aimed to assess the potential antiepileptic and neuroprotective features of MP essential oil (MPO) in pilocarpine (P) and pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) models of epilepsy. Methods. The study used eight groups of mice to assess the anticonvulsant activity of MPO in both the P and PTZ acute models in mice. P (350 mg/kg, i.p.) was given 30 minutes after MPO (1.6, 3.2, and 6.4 ml/kg, i.p.). As a positive control group, diazepam (1 mg/kg, i.p) was used. PTZ (95 mg/kg, i.p.) was given 30 minutes after M
... Show MoreThirty one samples of gum swabs were collected from patients with tooth caries (5-30 years old) from the College of Science (Biology department )- University of Baghdad- Iraq for the period from October 2018 to December 2018. , The samples were transported, after inoculation in a transport media (nutrient broth), to the laboratory of the College of Science and then cultured on mannitol salt agar and blood agar). The isolates belonging to Staphylococcus spp. were identified by biochemical tests and Vitek 2 compact system, while the more antibiotic resistant isolates were identified by using Polymerase Chain Reaction(ï´¾PCR) and sequencing of 16SrRNA . The results showed sharp UV absorption peaks at 330 - 340nm and AFM at 5
... Show MoreAs the reservoir conditions are in continuous changing during its life, well production rateand its performance will change and it needs to re-model according to the current situationsand to keep the production rate as high as possible.Well productivity is affected by changing in reservoir pressure, water cut, tubing size andwellhead pressure. For electrical submersible pump (ESP), it will also affected by numberof stages and operating frequency.In general, the production rate increases when reservoir pressure increases and/or water cutdecreases. Also the flow rate increase when tubing size increases and/or wellhead pressuredecreases. For ESP well, production rate increases when number of stages is increasedand/or pump frequency is
... Show MoreBackground: The most common reason for re-making a maxillofacial prosthesis is the degradation of the mechanical properties of the silicone. Aim of this study: To assess some mechanical properties of VST-50F maxillofacial silicone reinforced with a composite of silicon dioxide nanoparticle and polyamide-6 microparticle before and after artificial aging. Material and Method: Preparing 240 samples tested for tear strength, tensile strength and elongation percentage, hardness, and roughness before and after aging. The Silicon dioxide was added in concentrations of 1% by weight and Polyamide-6 in the concentration of 0.25% and 0.5% by weight to the VST-50F RTV maxillofacial silicone. The one-way ANOVA and post hoc tests were used for inferentia
... Show MorePhase change materials (PCMs) such as paraffin wax can be used to store or release large amount of energy at certain temperature at which their solid-liquid phase changes occurs. Paraffin wax that used in latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) has low thermal conductivity. In this study, the thermal conductivity of paraffin wax has been enhanced by adding different mass concentration (1wt.%, 3wt.%, 5wt.%) of (TiO2) nano-particles with about (10nm) diameter. It is found that the phase change temperature varies with adding (TiO2) nanoparticles in to the paraffin wax. The thermal conductivity of the composites is found to decrease with increasing temperature. The increase in thermal conductivity ha
... Show MoreThe article discusses the spatial analysis of the chemical soil properties that is a key component of the agriculture ecosystem based on satellite images. The main objective of the present study is to measure the chemical soil properties (total dissolved salts (TDS), Electrical conductivity (EC), PH, and) and the spatial variability. On 13 November 2020 (wet season), a total of 12 soil samples were collected in the field through random sampling in the Sanam mountain-Al Zubair region south of Basra province, to contain its soil samples components of minerals and precious elements such as silica and sulfur. From experimental results, the soil sample in the sixth position has the highest concentration of TDS values, reached (5798.4
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