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LSU Master's Theses

2002

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Computing Moments Of A Binary Horizontally/Vertically Convex Image Using Run-Time Reconfiguration, Cheowway Neoh Jan 2002

Computing Moments Of A Binary Horizontally/Vertically Convex Image Using Run-Time Reconfiguration, Cheowway Neoh

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis, we present a design for computing moments of a binary horizontally/vertically convex image on an FPGA chip, using run-time reconfiguration. We compute the moments of up to third order for a total of 16 moments. We address how run-time reconfiguration speeds up moment computations without taking up huge hardware resources. Since we are considering a binary horizontally/vertically convex image, we look at an alternative method in moment computations that utilizes constant coefficient multipliers. We divide the image into segments and process one segment at a time. We reconfigure the constant coefficient multipliers before processing the next segment. …

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Bench-Scale Compost Reactors System And The Self-Heating Capabilities, Michael Alden Vining Jan 2002

Bench-Scale Compost Reactors System And The Self-Heating Capabilities, Michael Alden Vining

LSU Master's Theses

Less expensive bench-scale composting reactor systems which can mimic actual composting process via self-heating are needed. One can achieve such systems without using the expensive temperature feed-back control by properly insulating the bench composting reactors. However, the knowledge of heat generation and transfer in bench composting reactors is essential in properly designing such inexpensive insulation systems. All compost trial temperature profiles illustrated initial elevated temperature levels followed by a slow gradual temperature decreasing phase. Of all of the variables, the airflow rate, the volume and the overall heat transfer coefficient, seem to have the greatest impact on producing thermophilic temperatures. …

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Is This Journalism?: A Study Of Whether The Snapshots On The Front Page Of Usa Today Adhere To Journalistic Standards, Emily Arnette Vines Jan 2002

Is This Journalism?: A Study Of Whether The Snapshots On The Front Page Of Usa Today Adhere To Journalistic Standards, Emily Arnette Vines

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis examined 22 Snapshots on the front-pages of USA Today from April 2001 to determine whether they adhered to the journalism standards of wholeness, accuracy, and credibility. Fourteen were found not whole, 8 were not accurate, and 3 were not credible according to the definitions of this thesis. The researcher compared the data in the Snapshots to the data obtained from the cited source and interviewed sources as well as a news assistant and graphics editor at USA Today. The researcher found four possible explanations for the poor quality of the Snapshots and examined the routines of Snapshot production, …

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The Historic Landscape Of Mendocino: What Terms Define The Landscape Of A Rural Historic Landscape?, William Morrison Jan 2002

The Historic Landscape Of Mendocino: What Terms Define The Landscape Of A Rural Historic Landscape?, William Morrison

LSU Master's Theses

In this study, the terms that define a Rural Historic Landscape were examined. The examination of these terms determined the selection of the appropriate terms to identify the landscape of a Rural Historic Landscape. A case study of the Historic District of Mendocino, California was used to review the effectiveness of the landscape terms. The identified landscape elements in and around the Historic District were then evaluated using the National Register of Historic Places Standards. The result of the evaluation was the determination that a Rural Historic Landscape does exist separately from the Historic District as a landscape but a …

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Control Of Food Intake And Body Weight Following Smoking Cessation In Premenopausal Women, Jamie Lynn Neal Jan 2002

Control Of Food Intake And Body Weight Following Smoking Cessation In Premenopausal Women, Jamie Lynn Neal

LSU Master's Theses

Women experience more weight gain than men postcessation and are more aware of nicotine’s weight suppressing effects than men. Postcessation weight gain in women can be largely accounted for by significant increases in high fat foods from pre- to postcessation. Overeating found in the luteal phase, further compounds the increased caloric intake found postcessation. Few studies have evaluated the long-term effects of smoking cessation on macronutrient content and weight gain; and most have relied on self-report data. This study used the Macronutrient Self-Selection Paradigm (MSSP) and Food Preference Questionnaire (FPQ) to assess food intake in 17 women in the luteal …

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A Comparison Of Storm Hydrographs From Small Urban Watersheds With Different Land Use Patterns In Baton Rouge, Josey Wade Walker Jan 2002

A Comparison Of Storm Hydrographs From Small Urban Watersheds With Different Land Use Patterns In Baton Rouge, Josey Wade Walker

LSU Master's Theses

Statistics gathered by FEMA indicate that nine of ten federal disasters are related to flooding. Research has demonstrated that increases in flooding can be contributed to urbanization or the construction of new residential and commercial developments (Anderson, 1970; Arnold & Gibbons, 1996; Putnam, 1972). New development has two main problems associated with it. First is the increase in impervious surfaces due to new parking lots, buildings, and streets (Booth & Leavitt, 1999; Seaburn, 1969). Second is the elimination of natural vegetation, which reduces evapotranspiration and lowers the soil’s ability to absorb precipitation (Hewlett, 1982). This study first demonstrates the relationship …

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Development Of A Magnetite Tracer Protocol For Seasonal Measurement Of Bed Sediment Biodiffusion Coefficients, Paul D. Libbers Jan 2002

Development Of A Magnetite Tracer Protocol For Seasonal Measurement Of Bed Sediment Biodiffusion Coefficients, Paul D. Libbers

LSU Master's Theses

This thesis describes the development of a particle tracer technique for making short-term, in situ measurements of aquatic bed sediment biodiffusion coefficients. The bioturbation process in the upper sediment layers of streams, lakes, estuaries, and the marine environment moves particles and porewater. When present, organic chemicals, metals, colloids, etc., are transported across these layers and exchanges may occur at the sediment-water interface. Fickian biodiffusion coefficients that characterize such particle movements, Db (cm2/yr), are used for assessing chemical diagenesis rates and contaminant fluxes and are specific to each site. Chemical Fate and Transport (CFaT) models, developed for tracking contaminants in aquatic …

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Water Discharge Models, Seasonal Effluent Mass Loading, And Best Management Practices For Crawfish Ponds, Landon David Parr Jan 2002

Water Discharge Models, Seasonal Effluent Mass Loading, And Best Management Practices For Crawfish Ponds, Landon David Parr

LSU Master's Theses

Nearly 35,000 ha are used to grow crawfish in southwest and south-central Louisiana, and many of these ponds discharge into impaired water bodies. In 2002, proposed guidelines were published by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) assigning effluent limitations and standards for some aquaculture production systems and exempting others (e.g. crawfish ponds). This research had three objectives relative to crawfish ponds: develop water discharge models; final drawdown effluent quality and seasonal mass loading of solids and nutrients; and identification of Best Management Practices (BMPs) that could reduce effluent discharge and improve effluent quality. Models for south-central and southwest Louisiana …

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Approaches To Measuring The Frequency Of Achondroplasia And Hypochondroplasia Causing Fgfr-3 Mutations In Human Sperm, Andrew Timothy Daters Jan 2002

Approaches To Measuring The Frequency Of Achondroplasia And Hypochondroplasia Causing Fgfr-3 Mutations In Human Sperm, Andrew Timothy Daters

LSU Master's Theses

Achondroplasia and hypochondroplasia are two forms of skeletal dysplasias caused predominantly by single base mutations in the fibroblast growth factor receptor 3 gene (FGFR-3). The mutation for achondroplasia is a G1138A/C substitution and the mutation for hypochondroplasia (occurring about 50% of the time) is a C1620A/G substitution. Recent genetic studies have shown that spontaneous mutations for achondroplasia and hypochondroplasia occur exclusively on the paternally derived chromosome, suggesting that these mutations occur preferentially during spermatogenesis. For unknown reasons, the mutation rates at these FGFR-3 nucleotides appear to occur at a much higher frequency than nucleotide specific mutation rates observed in other …

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Improving The Design Of Golf Course Communities As Wildlife Habitats, Jason R. Watton Jan 2002

Improving The Design Of Golf Course Communities As Wildlife Habitats, Jason R. Watton

LSU Master's Theses

Golf course community developments present a unique opportunity to preserve and create wildlife habitat. Golf course management and development industries have become particularly cognizant of their environmental responsibilities in recent times and are responsive to new research. The specific focus of this thesis research is to provide guidance and encouragement for landscape architects designing wildlife habitat areas within golf course community developments. Specifically, I analyze the size, shape, and orientation of a selected number of wildlife habitat areas within the unique context of golf course community land usage. My hypothesis is that the spatial characteristics of a habitat area influence …

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Quantification Of The Spatial Gradient Of Local Volume Fraction From Tomography Images, Yongping Wang Jan 2002

Quantification Of The Spatial Gradient Of Local Volume Fraction From Tomography Images, Yongping Wang

LSU Master's Theses

Asphalt concrete has three constituents: aggregate, asphalt binder and air voids. In the mixture, aggregates serve as a skeleton of the mixture; asphalt serves as a binder to hold the aggregates together; and air voids prevent asphalt concrete from bleeding to avoid plastic mixes. The properties of asphalt concrete are controlled by the interaction of these three components. In asphalt concrete, asphalt binder, voids and aggregates are not uniformly distributed. The local volume fractions of these constituents vary with spatial locations. As a result, there exist a spatial gradient of the local volume fractions between two locations. Due to the …

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The Effect Of Nocturnal Sampling On Semen Quality And The Efficiency Of Collection In Bovine Species, Jennifer H. Yates Jan 2002

The Effect Of Nocturnal Sampling On Semen Quality And The Efficiency Of Collection In Bovine Species, Jennifer H. Yates

LSU Master's Theses

The objective of this study was to evaluate two semen collection schedules utilizing the assumed behavioral differences between bovine species. The efficiency was measured by bull behavior and semen quality parameters. Four Holstein and four Brahman bulls were collected each during a morning and a night collection time weekly. Ejaculates (n=64) were obtained via artificial vagina over four-weeks. To avoid masking benefits of night collection, the first collection of the week was alternated between night and day. Two collection teams were employed to reduce the time needed for collection, and the variability in collection method. Sampling order and collection team …

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Wastewater Plume Dynamics And Bacteria Transport Within The Marshland Upwelling System, Stephen David Richardson Jan 2002

Wastewater Plume Dynamics And Bacteria Transport Within The Marshland Upwelling System, Stephen David Richardson

LSU Master's Theses

The marshland upwelling system (MUS) serves as an alternative onsite method for the treatment of domestic wastewater derived from coastal communities. Previous studies on the MUS have focused on the efficacy of the system for the removal of fecal pathogens from settled and secondarily-treated wastewater sources. The objectives of this research were to: 1) characterize the extent of wastewater migration within the MUS, 2) evaluate the effectiveness of the MUS in removing fecal bacteria, 3) identify the mechanisms responsible for fecal coliform retention within the subsurface, and 4) describe the transport of fecal coliforms in a sand media based on …

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Predicting Electron Insert Output Factors At Nominal And Extended Source To Surface Distance, Ahmet Bulut Jan 2002

Predicting Electron Insert Output Factors At Nominal And Extended Source To Surface Distance, Ahmet Bulut

LSU Master's Theses

Two Varian linear accelerators were used to test the modified sector-integration method. This method can predict the electron insert factor for arbitrary inserts at different source to surface distances (SSD). The effective source distances (SSDeff) and insert factors (IF) for several accelerators are compared. The relationship of IF and SSDeff for machine type, energy, cone size, insert size and SSD is presented. The results were fed into the electron output determination module of an existing monitor unit calculator (MUCalc) which uses the modified sector integration method. Prediction and measurements were compared for various clinical inserts at several …

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Fine Aggregate Characterization Using Digital Image Analysis, Tongyan Pan Jan 2002

Fine Aggregate Characterization Using Digital Image Analysis, Tongyan Pan

LSU Master's Theses

A comprehensive literature review shows that performance of hot mix asphalt (HMA) is influenced by properties of aggregate. Current situation is that only limited efforts were dedicated to aggregate tests and criteria on aggregate, compared to researches on new binder tests, especially to that of fine aggregate. Superpave (Superior Performing Asphalt Pavement) tests/criteria on aggregate need to reflect those properties that influence performance. Representatives of the aggregate industry and the Superpave Mixture/Aggregate ETG (Expert Task Group) have reached the consensus for the need to improve aggregate tests and criteria as one of the most needed aspects left to complete in …

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Toward A Design Process, Joel Shay Aulie Jan 2002

Toward A Design Process, Joel Shay Aulie

LSU Master's Theses

This project presents an unconventional approach to an innovative design process. The thesis relates the challenges of adapting to the design studio environment. The author describes a personal journey into the design process, resulting from research and study of specific designers who have had high impact on the new creative approach to landscape design. The insight and knowledge gained from this search was instrumental in the evolutional process of design, incorporating a universal technique. The resultant process was then applied to a case study and evaluated for merit. The measure of a designer ultimately becomes the work he produces.

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Liga Mold Insert Fabrication Using Su-8 Photoresist, Jian Zhang Jan 2002

Liga Mold Insert Fabrication Using Su-8 Photoresist, Jian Zhang

LSU Master's Theses

The LIGA process potentially enables economic mass-production of devices with high aspect ratio geometry. Central to the LIGA process is the fabrication of high quality LIGA molds. But in the traditional LIGA mold insert fabrication process, the x-ray photoresist poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) is not highly sensitive to x-rays and a thick piece of PMMA sheet (>1mm) needs too much time to get exposed (bottom dose: 3500J/cm3), which results in excessive cost/ fabrication difficulty of the mold insert. Thus, in this thesis a negative photoresist SU-8 was tested as an x-ray photoresist in the LIGA fabrication process. SU-8 is much more …

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Useful Field Of View Of An Indicator Of Accident Risk: Results From A College Sample, Jeffrey James Schneider Jan 2002

Useful Field Of View Of An Indicator Of Accident Risk: Results From A College Sample, Jeffrey James Schneider

LSU Master's Theses

Driving is an important part of daily life in our society. Neurocognitive deficits acquired from a head injury can affect driving ability. Determining when it is safe for a person recovering from a head injury to return to the road can often be difficult. With the risk involved in an on-the-road driving evaluation, effective measures are needed to determine when patients are ready to be evaluated. Some neuropsychological measures have shown promise in this area. The Useful Field of View (UFOV) is one test that has been used successfully with older drivers to predict accident risk. Research has also been …

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Induction Of Tetraploidy In Zebrafish Danio Rerio And Nile Tilapia Oreochromis Niloticus, Eric Christopher Herbst Jan 2002

Induction Of Tetraploidy In Zebrafish Danio Rerio And Nile Tilapia Oreochromis Niloticus, Eric Christopher Herbst

LSU Master's Theses

The goals of this thesis were to: 1) induce tetraploidy in zebrafish; 2) characterize single-female spawning in Nile tilapia for egg collection; 3) design and construct hatching systems for tilapia eggs; 4) induce tetraploidy in Nile tilapia. Tetraploidy was induced in zebrafish Danio rerio, by applying a 41 C heat shock to eggs for 2 min at 11, 13, 15, 17, or 20 min after fertilization (AF). A trend of increasing percent tetraploid yield occurred the later the shocks were applied. Shocks applied at 11 min AF yielded 1% tetraploidy and shocks applied at 20 min AF yielded 10%. There …

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Analyzing The Education Mandate Of Title X: The Lead-Based Paint Reduction Act Of 1992, William Troy Roussel Jan 2002

Analyzing The Education Mandate Of Title X: The Lead-Based Paint Reduction Act Of 1992, William Troy Roussel

LSU Master's Theses

The Environmental Protection Agency appropriates 400 million dollars in grant funding under the authority of Title X: Residential Lead-based Paint Hazard Reduction Act of 1992. The education mandate of Title X states that the federal government must build an infrastructure to educate the public, real estate professionals, and contractors, to name a few, on the hazards of lead-based paint. A survey was developed to assess the effectiveness of the Title X education mandate. Contractors in the City of New Orleans were surveyed to assess their knowledge of the act and the hazards of lead-based paint before attending an 8-hour training …

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Standing Liberty And Other Stories, Richard Buchholz Jan 2002

Standing Liberty And Other Stories, Richard Buchholz

LSU Master's Theses

This miscellany represents the pick of the vignettes, tales, and anecdotes the author has gathered and spun out over the past few years. Personal experience, with the exception of a few inessential details, is not represented. The influence of ragtime music, which played with relentless syncopation in the author's head as he composed with pencil and yellow pad, may be discernable to those who take the trouble to read the sentences aloud.

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Prisoners Like Us, Sean P. Cavanaugh Jan 2002

Prisoners Like Us, Sean P. Cavanaugh

LSU Master's Theses

A fictional work about a wilderness writer and a man who transports prisoners of war set in the Moosehead Lake region of northern Maine.

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The Influence Of Hydrilla Infestation And Drawdown On The Food Habits And Growth Of Age-0 Largemouth Bass In The Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana, Torrance D. Mason Jan 2002

The Influence Of Hydrilla Infestation And Drawdown On The Food Habits And Growth Of Age-0 Largemouth Bass In The Atchafalaya River Basin, Louisiana, Torrance D. Mason

LSU Master's Theses

I compared diets and growth rates of age-0 largemouth bass in the Atchafalaya River Basin (Basin), Louisiana, to determine how hydrilla Hydrilla verticillata densities and drawdown influence bass food habits and growth. To assess hydrilla density effects on diet, I compared food habits of age-0 bass collected in high, intermediate, and low hydrilla densities, as well as in Henderson Lake, a semi-isolated portion of the Basin subject to drawdowns in 2001 and 2002 to reduce hydrilla densities. I also compared diets of age-0 bass from sites sampled in 2001 and 2002 that were also sampled in the mid-1970s before hydrilla …

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Mexican Women And Migration: The Effects Of Education And Family Status, Veronica Cuartas Aravena Jan 2002

Mexican Women And Migration: The Effects Of Education And Family Status, Veronica Cuartas Aravena

LSU Master's Theses

Much existing research on migration of Mexican women has focused on those who migrate to the United States. However, most Mexican female migrants move within the country. This study asks two interrelated questions: (1) Does education, marital status, and the number of children influence Mexican women's migration status and (2) are there any differences in the way these factors affect internal versus international migration. Data from the Mexican Migration Project (2001) collected during the winter months of 1987-1997 (N=7610) are employed and three models are constructed, where non-migrants serve as the reference category. These models are also used to examine …

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The Effects Of Implicit, Explicit, And Synergistic Training On Learning An Artificial Grammar, Thomas James Domangue Jan 2002

The Effects Of Implicit, Explicit, And Synergistic Training On Learning An Artificial Grammar, Thomas James Domangue

LSU Master's Theses

Participants were trained to generate exemplars of an artificial grammar by bubbling-in letters from exemplars (implicit training), observing a diagram of the grammar then reproducing it (explicit training), or tracing the path of exemplars through a diagram of the grammar (synergistic training). Performance was measured using a cued-generate task. It provided a template for an exemplar with two letters filled in. Participants attempted to generate exemplars that fit the template. The computer corrected the exemplar when it matched at least 70% of the letters in a valid string. Results showed that both explicit and synergistic training led to generation of …

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Application Of Anoxic/Aerobic (A/A) Biological Treatment To Swine Wastewater, Dale G. Frederick Jan 2002

Application Of Anoxic/Aerobic (A/A) Biological Treatment To Swine Wastewater, Dale G. Frederick

LSU Master's Theses

Residential expansion into traditionally rural areas, environmental issues and increasing integration and farm sizes, have placed steadily increasing pressure and demands on the modern pork producer. Waste management and odor control have become important priority issues. In this research, a controllable field scale biological treatment system was designed, constructed and investigated. The anoxic/aerobic (A/A) system consisted of an anoxic reactor, which receives the raw swine waste, in series with an aerobic reactor. The design of the system require the heterotrophic bacteria in the anoxic reactor to oxidize the organic carbon to carbon dioxide utilizing nitrate as the terminal electron acceptor …

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Explaining The Explanation: Byron's Notes To Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Cristina M. Caminita Jan 2002

Explaining The Explanation: Byron's Notes To Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Cristina M. Caminita

LSU Master's Theses

In this thesis, I show that Lord Byron's notes to Childe Harold's Pilgrimage are an integral part of the poem itself, not to be read as added material, but to be read as material that comments upon and deconstructs the poem. I examine the first two cantos of the poem, reading the notes as Byron's own answers and questions to the stylistic and political ramifications of the romance verse. By scrutinizing Byron's use of the romantic hero, the romance verse, the romantic quest and the text of romance for his reading public, I show Byron's own subversion and questioning of …

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Sugar Cane Yield Monitoring System, Caryn Elizabeth Benjamin Jan 2002

Sugar Cane Yield Monitoring System, Caryn Elizabeth Benjamin

LSU Master's Theses

This project involved the design and testing of a sugar cane yield monitoring system during the 1999 and 2000-harvest seasons. The system was mounted on a CAMECO CH 2500 1997 sugar cane combine. The sugar cane yield monitoring system consisted of a scale, a data acquisition system, and a differential global positioning system (DGPS). The scale consisted of a weigh plate supported by load cell(s). The load cell(s) were supported by a protective box, which mounted to the frame of the harvester. The scale, which was mounted in the floor of the elevator, directly recorded instantaneous measurements of the sugar …

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The Influence Of Imagined Interactions On Verbal Fluency, Charles Choi Jan 2002

The Influence Of Imagined Interactions On Verbal Fluency, Charles Choi

LSU Master's Theses

Imagined interactions (IIs) are a type of social cognition and mental imagery whereby actors imagine an interaction with others for the purposes of planning. Within actual encounters, verbal fluency is a characteristic that contributes to the speaker's credibility. The planning that takes place through imagined dialogues can help a speaker overcome disfluency found in speech. This study shows that improvements in speaking style are also dependent upon the trait of communication apprehension that an individual experiences. Visualization can decrease apprehension levels, thus producing higher verbal fluency. Results from this study indicate planning's influence in the reduction of silent pauses but …

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Evaluation Of The Hydrocarbon Potential In Low-Salinity Shaly Sand, Fnu Kurniawan Jan 2002

Evaluation Of The Hydrocarbon Potential In Low-Salinity Shaly Sand, Fnu Kurniawan

LSU Master's Theses

This research utilizes reservoir data from an oilfield in Indonesia, which is characterized by shaly sand and low salinity formation water. Both low salinity and shaliness reduce the resistivity contrast between oil and water. The aim of this research was to build a comprehensive interpretation algorithm to evaluate the shaly-sand reservoir in a low salinity formation water using limited well log data. Shaly-sand interpretation is still evolving with numerous researchers conducting investigations of the clay minerals effect on rock conductivity through theoretical and experimental approach. These investigations can be loosely divided into either Fractional Shale Volume models or the Cation …

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