Geological Engineering Commons^™

Fate And Transport Of Toxoplasma Gondii Oocysts In Saturated Porous Media: Effects Of Electrolytes And Natural Organic Matter, Christian Pullano

All Theses

Toxoplasma gondii is a pathogenic microorganism that is currently a threat to public health. Understanding the fate and transport of T. gondii through the soil and groundwater is vital in determining the risk it poses to water resources and human health. The physico-chemical interactions between the groundwater and the bio colloid within an aquifer will dictate its mobility and its ability to infect humans. This research examines how various naturally occurring groundwater chemistries containing organic compounds and monovalent and divalent salt solutions will alter the fate and transport of T. gondii. Solutions containing various concentrations of humic acid, fulvic …

Strain-Based Design Of Steel-Polymer-Steel Composite Pipes, Vul Thang

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Many offshore single-wall pipelines and structural failures have occurred in the past. As a result, lives were lost, and billions of dollars were spent. In addition, natural disasters such as earthquake fault zones can cause a large volume of soil movement. This can easily damage single-wall pipelines or piles of fixed offshore platforms in the earthquake fault zone.

Currently, the single-wall pipelines are used for the offshore and onshore oil and gas industry. This research investigated the use of double-wall composite pipe steel-polymer-steel (SPS) in place of single-wall pipe to prevent such failures. The double-wall composite pipe has a larger …

Final Inversion Of The Midcontinent Rift During The Rigolet Phase Of The Grenvillian Orogeny, Eben B. Hodgin, Nicholas L. Swanson-Hysell, James M. Degraff, Andrew R.C. Kylander-Clark, Mark D. Schmitz, Andrew C. Turner, Yiming Zhang, Daniel A. Stolper

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Despite being a prominent continental-scale feature, the late Mesoproterozoic North American Midcontinent Rift did not result in the break-up of Laurentia, and subsequently underwent structural inversion. The timing of inversion is critical for constraining far-field effects of orogenesis and processes associated with the rift’s failure. The Keweenaw fault in northern Michigan (USA) is a major thrust structure associated with rift inversion; it places ca. 1093 Ma rift volcanic rocks atop the post-rift Jacobsville Formation, which is folded in its footwall. Previous detrital zircon (DZ) U-Pb geochronology conducted by laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) assigned a ca. 950 Ma maximum …

Lithospheric Structure Underneath The Archean Tanzania Craton And Adjacent Regions From A Joint Inversion Of Receiver Functions And Rayleigh-Wave Phase Velocity Dispersion, Tuo Wang, Stephen S. Gao, Qiuyue Yang, Ling Chen, Kelly H. Liu

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Lithospheric structure beneath the Archean Tanzania craton and adjacent regions, including segments of the East African rift system (EARS) and the Proterozoic-early Paleozoic orogenic belts between the EARS and the craton, is imaged by a joint inversion of receiver functions and Rayleigh wave dispersion measurements derived from ambient seismic noise for shorter periods and teleseismic data for longer periods. Our resulting crustal thickness, crustal VP= VS measurements and 3D shear-wave velocity model for the upper 120 km show a clear spatial correspondence with major surficial geological features. The new results suggest the presence of a mafic layer in the bottom …

A New Look At Landslides Of The Vermilion And Echo Cliffs, Northern Arizona, Conor M. Watkins, J. David Rogers

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Vermilion and Echo Cliffs form a nearly continuous escarpment more than 160 km long within the Colorado Plateau physiographic province of North America. The cliffs overlie the Marble Platform in northern Arizona and are located along the Colorado River, just upstream of the Grand Canyon. Large rotational block landslides mantle the erosional escarpment along most of its extent. Although these landslides have been noted for over 100 years, their likely origin has never been explained. Landslide failure surfaces appear to be influenced by the Petrified Forest Member of the Triassic Chinle Formation, a shale layer containing smectite clay weathered …

Comprehensive Evaluation Of Self-Healing Polyampholyte Gel Particles For The Severe Leakoff Control Of Drilling Fluids, Lili Yang, Chunlin Xie, Tian Ao, Kaixiao Cui, Guancheng Jiang, Baojun Bai, Yongwei Zhang, Jun Yang, Xingxing Wang, Weiguo Tian

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Lost circulation has been a serious problem to be solved in many drilling practices during oil, gas and geothermal well drillings. Many materials have been developed and evaluated for the purpose. However, their performance to plug severe leakoff is very limited. Herein, an injectable self-healing hydrogel based on polyampholyte with sulfonated and quaternary ammonium functionalities (P(MPTC-co-NaSS)) was developed and comprehensively evaluated to prevent the severe loss of fluids to formation. By incorporating cation-π (π is for aromatic residues) interaction, the hydrogel shown self-healing property and robustness in severe environment (temperature, salt) by comparison with other hydrogels merely consisting of cation-anion …

Identification Of Intrusive Massifs In The Nurata Mineralized Zones Based On Satellite Images, Samariddin Rabbimkulov, Abdulla Almordonov, Akmal Asadov, Abdimutal Tangirov

Technical science and innovation

The article presents the results of processing space images using PCA, ISODATA, K-Means and similar methods, as well as analysis based on GIS technologies. As a result of automatic and visual interpretation of the obtained images, intrusive complexes, linear and ring structures scattered throughout the Nurata region were identified. In particular, the result obtained by X-ray diffraction analysis proved that the composition of the 2R4G1B and 2R4G3B channels is one of the most effective methods for separating the intrusive massifs distributed in the region. Given that isolated intrusive massifs, linear and ring structures are directly related to gold mining zones …

Current State And Ways Of Increasing The Efficiency Of Technologies For Isolating Water Influxes, A Karshiev, R Suleimanova, K Akhmedova, M Rakhmonkulov

Technical science and innovation

The results of the application of the technology of isolation of water inflows in the wells of the fields of the Mubarek Oil and Gas Production Department are presented. The efficiency is assessed and the problems of the applied technologies for isolation of water inflows are shown. The technical and economic efficiency of the technology for isolating water inflows in wells with collapse of the columns is shown. The flow rates of wells in the fields of the Mubarek oil and gas production department are decreasing due to an increase in the water cut of the produced product. At the …

Improving The Work Efficiency Of An Air Conditioning System Based On A Chiller, N Usmonov, A Khazratov, J Usmonov

Technical science and innovation

This article deals with evaporative cooling devices used in air conditioning systems. Various ways of lowering the air temperature to the dew point have been identified as a result of improvements to the devices considered. It is also indicated that the circulating water temperature in the system can be lowered to the air temperature on the wet bulb thermometer. As is known, recirculating water is often used as a cooling water in process units to reduce water consumption in industrial plants. Circulating water is heated by recirculation and the heated water is cooled in ventilated cooling towers. This method of …

Sources Of Hydrothermal Fluids Inferred From Oxygen And Carbon Isotope Composition Of Calcite, Keweenaw Peninsula Native Copper District, Michigan, Usa, Thomas Bodden, Theodore J. Bornhorst, Florence Bégué, Chad Deering

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The Mesoproterozoic North American Midcontinent Rift hosts the world’s largest accu-mulation of native copper in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula. During a regional metamorpho-genic‐hydrothermal event, native copper was deposited along with spatially zoned main‐stage minerals in a thermal high. This was followed by deposition of late‐stage minerals including minor copper sulfide. Inferences from the oxygen and carbon isotopic composition of main‐stage hydrothermal fluids, as calculated from 296 new and compiled isotopic measurements on calcite, are consistent with existing models that low‐sulfur saline native copper ore‐forming fluids were domi-nantly derived by burial metamorphic processes from the very low sulfur basalt‐dominated rift fill at …

A New Stefan Equation To Characterize The Evolution Of Thermokarst Lake And Talik Geometry, Noriaki Ohara, Benjamin M. Jones, Andrew D. Parsekian, Kenneth M Hinkel, Katsu Yamatani, Mikhail Kanevskiy, Rodrigo C. Rangel, Amy L. Breen, Helena Bergstedt

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Thermokarst lake dynamics, which play an essential role in carbon release due to permafrost thaw, are affected by various geomorphological processes. In this study, we derive a three-dimensional (3D) Stefan equation to characterize talik geometry under a hypothetical thermokarst lake in the continuous permafrost region. Using the Euler equation in the calculus of variations, the lower bounds of the talik were determined as an extremum of the functional describing the phase boundary area with a fixed total talik volume. We demonstrate that the semi-ellipsoid geometry of the talik is optimal for minimizing the total permafrost thaw under the lake for …

Chitosan/Polyacrylamide Green Gels For Water Control In High-Temperature Reservoirs, Mohamed Shamlooh, Reem Elaf, Ibnelwaleed A. Hussein, Mohammed Saad, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The rheology of a gel system composed of polyacrylamide (PAM) and chitosan is studied under typical reservoir conditions. The impacts of the degree of chitosan deacetylation, temperature, and salinity on the gelation behavior are assessed. The said system was prepared under ambient conditions and matured for 24 h at altered temperatures ranging from 50 up to 125 °C. An optimum formulation has been identified considering the rheological response and the initial viscosity constraints. The increase in the degree of syneresis with the degree of deacetylation indicates the long-Term thermal stability of the gels. Ammonium chloride was an effective retarder for …

Investigating The Possibility Of Using Smelted Water-Cooled Copper Slag Regolith As A Terrestrial Based Lunar Regolith Simulant, Scott A. Morley

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

There is a need for a stable, efficient, and cost-effective option of a terrestrial lunar regolith simulant that can be easily made and at a lower cost to the consumer. A lunar regolith is the layer of unconsolidated rocky material covering bedrock that is on planets. All simulants fabricated for the moon, are based off three types of lunar regolith areas. The first is the lunar highlands which are the high areas of the moon, these areas are anthracitic. The second is lunar mare which is the meteoroid bombarded areas of the moon that look like dark grey areas from …

Characterizing Hydrostratigraphic Communication Of The Semi-Consolidated Sediment Aquifers Of The Flathead Valley In Northwestern Montana Through Hydrogeophysical Surveys, Elizabeth Katherine Breitmeyer

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

To accurately forecast the cascading effects of increased stress to a hydrologic system, characterization of the continuity and permeability of the primary confining layer (PCL) separating the shallow and deep intermontane alluvial aquifers is required. Geophysical methods provide a faster cost-effective alternative to drilling to acquire additional information on the changes of hydrostratigraphy with depth. Geoelectric resistivity models recovered through inversion of TEM central loop sounding data to delineate changes in geoelectric properties with depth, providing information on the depth, thickness and resistivity of the hydrostratigraphy. Comparison of geoelectric resistivity models with well completion report lithologies yield information about the …

Treatment Of Mine Tailings Through Two Methods Of Calcite Precipitation: (I) Using Natural Mineral Trona, (Ii) Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation Via Denitrification, Nathaniel Small

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Mine tailings not only pose environmental risks such as dust emission and acid mine drainage but also present geotechnical risks in cases of tailings dam failures which could lead to loss of human life and severe damages to infrastructure. In-situ cementation of tailings has the potential to reduce the risks associated with such failures as well as the related environmental problems. Over the years, different methods of chemically and microbially induced cementation of tailings have been examined many of which have shown promising results on a laboratory scale and some even on a ϐield scale. In this paper, a new …

Remote Sensing For Energy Resources: Introduction, K. S. Sajinkumar, Thomas Oommen

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

No abstract provided.

Meteorite Impact Craters As Hotspots For Mineral Resources And Energy Fuels: A Global Review, S. James, Saranya R. Chandran, M. Santosh, A. P. Pradeepkumar, M. N. Praveen, K. S. Sajinkumar

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

The ever-increasing recovery rate of natural resources from terrestrial impact craters over the last few decades across the globe offers new avenues for further exploration of mineral and hydrocarbon resources in such settings. As of today, 60 of the 208 terrestrial craters have been identified to host diverse resources such as hydrocarbons, metals and construction materials. The potential of craters as plausible resource contributors to the energy sector is therefore, worthy of consideration, as 42 (70%) of the 60 craters host energy resources such as oil, gas, coal, uranium, mercury, critical and major minerals as well as hydropower resources. Among …

Impact Of Polymer Rheology On Gel Treatment Performance Of Horizontal Wells With Severe Channeling, Jianqiao Leng, Mingzhen Wei, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Gel treatment has been a cost-effective method to control the conformance of a reservoir with severe heterogeneity problems. The water channels in such reservoirs can be classified as open fractures or high permeability porous media with pore-throat network. Many simulation studies have been conducted to discuss gel treatment performance for conformance control. However, nobody considered the polymer rheology difference in open fractures and porous media in simulation. Previous simulation studies also ignored the residual resistance factor as a function of rock permeability rather than a constant parameter. In this study, a conceptual simulation model was established to simulate the linear …

Insar As A Tool For Monitoring Hydropower Projects: A Review, J. Aswathi, R. B. Binoj Kumar, Thomas Oommen, E. H. Bouali, K. S. Sajinkumar

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

This paper provides a review of using Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), a microwave remote sensing technique, for deformation monitoring of hydroelectric power projects, a critical infrastructure that requires consistent and reliable monitoring. Almost all major dams around the world were built for the generation of hydropower. InSAR can enhance dam safety by providing timely settlement measurements at high spatial-resolution. This paper provides a holistic view of different InSAR deformation monitoring techniques such as Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (DInSAR), Ground-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar (GBInSAR), Persistent Scatterer Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (PSInSAR), Multi-Temporal Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (MTInSAR), Quasi-Persistent Scatterer …

Continental Break-Up Under A Convergent Setting: Insights From P Wave Radial Anisotropy Tomography Of The Woodlark Rift In Papua New Guinea, Youqiang Yu, Frederik Tilmann, Dapeng Zhao, Stephen S. Gao, Kelly H. Liu

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

To explore the dynamic mechanism of continental rifting within a convergent setting, we determine the first P wave radial anisotropic tomography beneath the Woodlark rift in southeastern Papua New Guinea, which develops within the obliquely colliding zone between the Australian and southwest Pacific plates. The rift zone is depicted as localized low-velocity anomalies with positive radial anisotropy, which rules out a dominant role of active mantle upwelling in promoting the rift development and favors passive rifting with decompression melting as main processes. Downwelling slab relics in the upper mantle bounding the rift zone are revealed based on observed high-velocity anomalies …