Oil, Gas, and Energy Commons^™

Puerto Rico Left In The Dark, Again, Eulices Garcia

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

Puerto Rico, the United States third largest island, often gets overlooked when hurricane season comes and goes. Where most of the attention goes to the Florida peninsula or East coast, Puerto Rico is still one of America’s closest territories. As part of America’s extended family, Puerto Rico should not be overlooked when natural disasters occur. When these disasters happen, they can have a tremendous impact on the island itself and the people in it. One major concern that has not been truly fixed yet is the energy crisis in Puerto Rico. Whenever storms hit, there is always a possibility of …

Carbon Capture Is Not Climate Action, Bella Devney

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

A new technology is being brought to Western Nebraska in the form of Carbon Capture and Storage in the name of climate action, but the health of Nebraska’s environment and people are being ignored. Bridgeport Ethanol Plant announced this fall that they plan to begin building technology that will capture and store “175,000 tons/yr” which is a small percentage of the 4,577 million tons emitted by the US in 2020.

Carbon can be captured from the atmosphere itself or in the Ethanol Plant’s case from the point of the CO2 production. After carbon is captured from the plant’s smokestack, it …

Nuclear Energy, Evan Detina

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

The use of nuclear power as a primary energy source is a controversial discussion. However, if reversing or stopping the effects of climate change is our main goal, then this is a top contender. Fossil fuels account for 34 billion tons of emissions annually according to Ritchie, Hannah, et al. (2020). Instead, we can create energy through nuclear fission. I believe nuclear energy should become a much larger player in the energy game.

The first practical use of nuclear power became apparent on December 2, 1942 when a physicist, Enrico Fermi, develOp-ed a self-sustaining nuclear fission reaction at the University …

Big Blue Wind Project: Why Solar May Be A Better Solution For Nebraska's Energy Future Than Wind, Page Nippert

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

With nonrenewable resources such as coal and oil causing greenhouse gas emissions, a shift to renewable resources is needed not only to reduce CO₂ emissions, but also to allow energy independence. The switch to renewable resources is vital, and in Nebraska, these resources are being introduced commonly as solar and wind farms depending on the area.

NextEra Energy is proposing The Big Blue Wind project in Jefferson County. I’m opposing this project for reasons similar to why it’s being proposed – for the environment and the community.

The project aims to benefit the community economically by creating jobs, county …

New Natural Gas Pipeline Benefits Europe And Africa, Victor Moreno Lozano

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

European countries have agreed to start filling up their natural gas gap, with the new natural gas pipeline from Africa. Nigeria and Morocco agreed to develop this pipeline in 2016, but after the beginning of the Ukraine-Russia war, things have speeded up.

After the economical punishments Europe imposed on Russia, Russia decided to increase the price of the natural gas exported to Europe and decrease the amount of gas. Most European countries have a big dependency on Russia's natural gas, countries like Germany import 50% of their natural gas from Russia.

Since winter is coming up, European countries are dealing …

Are Electric Cars A Solution In Rwanda?, Elysee Ndayishimiye

Op-Eds from ENSC230 Energy and the Environment: Economics and Policies

Numerous studies have been conducted that demonstrate how environmentally friendly electric vehicles are. They produce fewer greenhouse gases, which makes them an effective way to reduce both air pollution and greenhouse emissions. In order to combat rising air pollution and support a green city initiative, Rwanda considered introducing more electric vehicles. The Global Electric Mobility Program, run by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), aims to assist low- and middle-income nations in switching from conventional (gas) to electric vehicles. Rwanda has joined this program. Due to the high cost of switching to electric vehicles in poor nations like Rwanda and …

Tools For Predicting Emulsification Capacity Of Crude Oil Exposed To Sunlight: Impact Of Photoproduced Carboxylic Acids On Emulsion Stability, Chaka Nacaya Brown

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The role of acids in the formation of emulsions from sunlight exposed petroleum is not well understood. To elucidate the impact of sunlight on the formation of emulsions from petroleum, Macondo, its surrogate and NIST 1619b and 2717a were separately exposed to simulated sunlight for up to 48 hours as a film dispersed into a quartz dish, or a film spread on water. Emulsion stability was scored from 0-5. All exposures demonstrated a correlation between emulsion stability and sunlight exposure with no observable emulsification in absence of photoproduction due to sunlight exposure. Aqueous studies of DOC_HC (dissolved organic carbon …

Rational Design Of Precisely Tailored Electrocatalysts For Efficient And Durable Electrocatalytic Devices, Mohmed Sanad Noufal

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Due to their superior conversion efficiency, high power density, and green nature, sustainable energy technologies such as Fuel cells and Zinc-air batteries, once installed to produce green hydrogen fuel as well as energy storage devices, are expected to play an essential role in reducing the environmental effect of human transportation by replacing fossil fuels. However, the current bottleneck for the low-temperature polymer membrane fuel cells that dominate the fuel cell vehicle market is the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode. The slow ORR kinetics significantly reduce the efficiency of chemical-electrical energy conversion. Similarly, hydrogen production …

Infiltration-Controlled Combustion Of Lithium And Magnesium Powders And Reactions Of Lithium With Oxygen And Carbon Dioxide, Kevin Samuel Estala Rodriguez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Chemical heat integrated power systems are of great interest for space missions where solar energy, nuclear energy, and batteries are not available or are not practical to use. A new concept of a power system is a metal combustor coupled with a chemical oxygen generator, where the generated oxygen infiltrates through the metal powder or combustion products. The combustion of lithium and magnesium powders under these conditions has not been studied yet. The present work investigates combustion of magnesium powder and stabilized lithium metal powder (SLMP) ignited by a laser inside a closed chamber filled with O2 or CO2. It …

The Qualification Of Sealability And Creep Relaxation Of Additively Manufactured Zytel Gaskets For Pem Fuel Cells, Robert Lazarin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to study the feasibility of low-cost additive manufacturing of gaskets for proton exchange membrane fuel cells exposed to extreme temperature conditions ranging from -55°C to 100°C. With the growing popularity and decreasing costs of additive manufacturing technologies, specifically Material Extrusion (ME), research is being conducted to determine the feasibility of ME components. Thermally cycled PEMFCs may exhibit accelerated gasket deterioration, therefore, the mechanical stability of material extruded gaskets following a harsh thermal cycle must be assessed. The feasibility of the material extruded gaskets will be proven by manufacturing optimization and mechanical testing. The target …

A Case Study In Design, Construction, And Operation Of A Meromictic Solar Pond In Texas, Usa, Bianca Paola Meneses Brassea

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Over the last four decades, meromictic solar ponds have been the subject of limnological studies and engineering research. A case of practical interest is the salinity gradient solar pond (SGSP). SGSP science and technologies have been systemically advanced in El Paso, Texas. This dissertation aims to share lessons learned in designing, constructing, and operating the El Paso Solar Pond, a NaCl-based solar pond that achieved high-temperature performance over two decades, commencing in 1984. Many of the practical lessons learned have not been published and are thus not readily available in archival journals, and this contribution provides a remedy. The value …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Iron-Based Catalysts For The Dehydrogenation Of Fossil Fuels, Victoria Isabel Reyes

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

For a prosperous and sustainable future, hydrogen is an encouraging solution due to its simple transition for industrial decarbonization and synergy for economic development. Paradoxically, current hydrogen production pathways release substantial amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere contributing to climate change. To keep up with increasing demand, hydrogen could be produced through microwave-assisted thermocatalytic dehydrogenation of fossil fuels without emitting carbon dioxide. This requires specified catalysts to meet the requirements of hydrogen yield and selectivity. The objective of the present research is to fabricate, characterize, and compare iron-based alumina (FeAl_x O_y) catalysts produced via solution combustion synthesis and iron-based …

Theory And Experiment Of The Dual-Bit Torque Self-Balancing Drilling System For Rescue Drilling, Gao Ke, Zhang Cong, Zhao Yan, Li Xu, Wen Yumin, Lyu Xiaoshu, Xie Xiaobo

Coal Geology & Exploration

The rapid and safe construction of rescue channel is an effective method to save the trapped person underground after mine accidents. The conventional rescue hole drilling technologies mainly include the downhole hammer percussion drilling technology and the composite drilling technology, which have the disadvantages of large rig structure, complex drilling process, great disturbance to the formation and low target hit rate. In particular, it is easy to have secondary accidents in the fractured strata, and the rescue requirements could not be effectively met. In order to ensure the formation adaptability and wall stability of rescue boreholes, the dual-bit torque self-balancing …

Research And Application Of Multi-Source Information Detection Technology For Drilling Rescue Of Mine, Zheng Xuezhao, Sun Ziyu, Guo Jun, Zhang Duo, Chen Gang, He Qinjian

Coal Geology & Exploration

Drilling rescue of mine is a new type of rescue technology. In order to quickly and accurately obtain the information on drilling channel, the location distance of the trapped person and the characteristics of the gas environment in the disaster area during rescue, as well as to realize the two-way video and audio communication between the trapped person underground and the rescue commander on the ground, theoretical research and technical development were conducted with the technical methods such as multi-source information fusion, dual-stream network video service, edge computing, intrinsically-safe circuit control, and ultra-wideband radar. Meanwhile, two key technologies were proposed: …

Occurrence Characteristics And Ecological Risk Assessment Of Heavy Metals In Fly Ash Of Ningdong Energy Chemical Industry Base, Zhang Zhiguo, Tan Yuning, Hu Youbiao, Zheng Yonghong, Chen Denghong, Cai Weiqing, Li Yating, Lu Jiangwei

Coal Geology & Exploration

In order to expand the resource utilization of fly ash, research was conducted based on the fly ash of Yuanyang Lake Power Plant in the Ningdong Energy Chemical Industry Base. Specifically, the physical and chemical properties of fly ash were characterized and analyzed by means of scanning electron microscope, energy spectrum analysis and X-ray diffraction. Besides, the total amount, effective state and content in different forms of Pb, Cr, Ni, Cu, Cd and As in fly ash were determined through acid digestion, DTPA extraction and 5-step Tessier sequential extraction. In addition, the ecological risk of heavy metals in fly ash …

Research And Application Of Synchronous Self-Balancing Feed System For Rescue Truck-Mounted Drilling Rig, Zou Zujie, Tian Hongliang, Liu Qingxiu, Chang Jianghua, Liu Qi, Zhu Guodong

Coal Geology & Exploration

Truck-mounted drilling rig is the core equipment of ground drilling rescue in mine accidents, and it has played an important role in all the successful rescues at home and abroad. However, the feed system, as the main actuator of the truck-mounted drilling rig, exposes the problems of restricted passability of the whole machine due to the long working stroke, difficult maintenance of the positioning wheel train, poor movement synchronization of the double cylinder, guide rail wearing caused by the partial load of power head, and the delay of pulling force displayed by the hydraulic gauge during its service. ZMK5550TZJF50/120 rescue …

Quantitative Experimental Study On Time-Varying Characteristics Of Bleeding Of Cement-Based Grouting Materials, Zhang Runqi, Xu Bin, Yin Shangxian, Li Shuxia, Chang Yongwang, Lian Huiqing, Cao Min

Coal Geology & Exploration

Cement-based cementitious materials are the most common grouting materials for grouting engineering. This type of material has obvious water separation effect, and obtaining the quantitative formula of water separation thickness will be helpful to improve the calculation accuracy of slurry diffusion radius. By observing the water separation process of three admixtures, namely pyrophyllite powder (0%-35%), polyvinyl alcohol (0%-8%) and fly ash (0%-90%) in cement-based slurry, the water separating rate, stone formation rate, final water separation time and water separation thickness of the three admixtures were obtained. It is found that the water separation thickness of the slurry varies regularly with …

Heat Conduction Performance And Transfer Mechanism Of Sand-Barite Powder Backfill Materials, Jia Hailiang, Zhu Zixian, Zhou Yang, Sun Qiang

Coal Geology & Exploration

The ground source heat pump of buried pipeline is a major form of shallow thermal energy utilization, and the thermophysical properties of backfill materials, especially the thermal conductivity, are the key factors affecting the heat transfer efficiency of the heat pump system. In this paper, the variation law of thermal conductivity of the sand-barite powder samples at different barite powder mixing ratio (volume fraction) and saturation was studied. The mechanism of improving the thermal conductivity of backfill materials with barite powder was revealed based on the macroscopic and microscopic experiments such as stereoscope and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis. In addition, …

Tomography Method For Adjacent Channel Frequency Shift Of Transmitted In-Seam Waves, Tian Han, Wu Rongxin, Hu Ze’An, Yang Qiaonan

Coal Geology & Exploration

In-Seam Seismic is one of the main detection methods for small geological structures in the coal mining working face. In this method, the energy attenuation feature of in-seam waves is mainly utilized. In case of any significant geological anomaly or receivers coupling difference in coal working face, the energy distribution of the in-seam wave at different frequency bands will be significantly affected, and the stability and accuracy of in-seam wave detection results will be decreased. Using the centroid frequency change features of the in-seam wave signals for inversion imaging is an innovative, effective method. However, for this method, there are …

Subgrade Subsurface Anomalous Body Full-Waveform Inversion Based On Ground-Penetrating Radar, Hu Leilei, Chen Kang, Huang Dejun, Yang Rong

Coal Geology & Exploration

The hidden dangers of road collapse and underground voids are usually difficult to notice and easy to occur in sudden. They have caused huge losses in people's lives and properties. Therefore, the detection and analysis of road collapse and underground voids are crucial. The ground-penetrating radar (GPR) is the main method for detecting the hidden dangers of urban road collapse currently by virtue of its high accuracy, high efficiency, continuous non-destructiveness and real-time imaging. A convolution type objective function FWI algorithm was proposed to solve the problem of the lower inversion accuracy and practicability caused by the inaccurate estimation of …

Key Pretreatment Technologies For Coalbed Gas Bioengineering And Review On Their Mechanism Of Action, Bao Yuan, Chang Jianing, Liu Xiangrong, Xia Daping, Wang Yaya

Coal Geology & Exploration

Coalbed gas bioengineering (CGB) is a new technology for the purpose of realizing the clean utilization of coal resources and the enhanced recovery of coalbed gas. To explore the key characteristics of the pretreatment technologies of CGB, hydrocarbon generation potential and its mechanism of action, conclusion and summary was made for various pretreatment technologies herein. Meanwhile, the pretreatment technologies were divided into three types according to the action mode of coal (organic matter) and bacteria (microorganism): microflora optimization and improvement, coal dissolution and oxidation, and biological stimulation and synergy. By comparing the capability of coal to generate methane through microbial …

Development Of Rescue Truck-Mounted Drilling Rig In Ground Emergency, Fan Dong, Zou Zujie, Wang Ruize, Lu Feifei, Liu Qi, Wang Hejian

Coal Geology & Exploration

Ground drilling is an effective means to rescue the person trapped underground in case of accident in a mine. The rescue truck-mounted drilling rig is an ideal model for mine accident rescue due to its adaptability to a variety of drilling technologies and the advantages of wide formation adaptability, high mobility and strong accident handling capacity. In view of the shortcomings of domestic truck-mounted drilling rig in the construction of life support hole and large-diameter relief well, ZMK5550TZJF50/120 truck-mounted drilling rig was developed. Specifically, the large capacity power head adaptable to various technologies was developed, adopting the design of installation …

Research On Key Technology Of Pipe Jacking Drilling Equipment For Large-Diameter Rescue Borehole Of Coal Mine, Wang Lei, Zhu Yuqin, Zhang Weina, Liu Hao, Zhao Wenbo, Yang Chuang, Wang Guanxiong

Coal Geology & Exploration

In order to solve the rescue problem of collapsed roadways in coal mines and improve the drilling speed of large-diameter rescue boreholes, the construction method of large-diameter borehole with pipe jacking technology was proposed. Specifically, the collapsed rock mass was crushed and the slag was removed by pushing the connectable pipe joints and cutter heads with the main jacking equipment arranged in the chamber, so as to form a rescue channel composed of jacked pipes at last. A composite cutter head with large opening under the condition of collapsed rock mass was developed, which is composed of 10 cutters, 10 …

Adaptive Electro-Hydraulic System Of Zmk5550tzjf50/120 Truck-Mounted Drilling Rig With Wob Adaptive Control Function, Chang Jianghua, Zhao Liang, Lu Feifei, Wang Longpeng, Yang Jiangbo

Coal Geology & Exploration

The truck-mounted drilling rig is an ideal model for rescue drilling construction due to its strong mobility and wide process adaptability. The traditional truck-mounted drilling rig adopting the mode of hydraulic control and hydraulic drive has the problems of non-intuitive displaying of control parameters and many pipelines, which is hard to achieve the closed-loop control. In case of drilling into the complex formations, the response speed of the driller is often difficult to adapt to changes in working conditions, which is not conducive to the drilling safety. In order to meet the requirements of safety and high automation of rescue …

Table Of Contents, The Editors

Coal Geology & Exploration

No abstract provided.

Key Technologies And Equipment Of Quickly And Safely Building Life Support And Rescue Channel In Mine Disaster, Tian Hongliang, Zou Zujie, Hao Shijun, Cao Ming, Zhou Guanghua, Huang Yong, Gu Hairong, Wang Lei

Coal Geology & Exploration

In case that persons are trapped underground as a result of shaft and roadway damage due to a major disaster accident in a mine, the most effective way of rescue is to construct the rescue channel in a safely and efficient manner. The rescue channel is divided into the underground and ground types. Building a large diameter rescue channel through the collapsed section is the most direct way if underground construction conditions are available. However, if no underground construction conditions are available or it is prone to secondary disasters, it is necessary to drill small diameter rescue holes on the …

Key Technologies Of Surface Efficient Life Support Hole Forming For Mine Rescue, Zhang Biao, Kang Yuguo, Huang Yong, Zhang Ming, Zhou Guang, Ren Yingju, Liu Jianlin, Gao Ke, Zhao Yan

Coal Geology & Exploration

The surface life support hole, as the support channel for the trapped people underground, is one of the important ground emergency rescue schemes for the situation with some people trapped underground due to mine accidents. Under the complex conditions of the rescue area, including easy collapse, easy leakage, large water inflow and inclined formation, the single hole forming process has the problems such as poor ground adaptability matching, low comprehensive drilling efficiency and difficult roadway penetration, which cannot meet the requirements of rescue. In order to form an efficient drilling technology system for life support holes and improve the response …

Application Of Pneumatic Dth Hammer In Drilling Rescue Of Mine Accidents, Zhao Jiangpeng, Hao Shijun

Coal Geology & Exploration

As an efficient percussive rock breaking tool, pneumatic down-the-hole (DTH) hammer has played an important role in drilling rescue of mine accidents at home and abroad. Herein, the technical characteristics of pneumatic DTH hammer were described from the points of rock breaking mechanism, structure type, drilling method and specification, and the reverse circulation type and its characteristics of pneumatic DTH hammer were emphatically analyzed. Besides, the application of forward circulation drilling of pneumatic DTH hammer and the combined deviation correction drilling of pneumatic DTH hammer and mud screw in small diameter drilling, as well as the research progress of pneumatic …

Research Progress Of Lifting Equipment For Large-Diameter Borehole Rescue, Gu Hairong, Shan Zenghai, Wang Longpeng, Shao Tao, Zou Zujie, Gao Ziyu

Coal Geology & Exploration

Rescue through large-diameter relief well is an efficient method of mine emergency rescue. The lifting equipment of large-diameter relief well is used to lift the trapped personnel safely and reliably to the surface through the large-diameter relief well. It is the key equipment in the rescue system of large-diameter relief well. With the rescue technology of large-diameter relief well gradually recognized in the industry, the lifting equipment of large-diameter relief well has developed considerably, forming the fixed and mobile types of lifting equipment and multiple technical routes. Besides, important progress has been made in the research on the lifting equipment …

Formation Mechanism Of Coalbed Methane In Dafosi Mine Field, Huanglong Coalfield, Liu Kaide, Yao Kaiwen, Chen Nengyuan, Fan Zhangqun, Li Shujia, Zheng Han, Yue Wenping, Li Xiaolong

Coal Geology & Exploration

Dafosi mine field is a typical low-rank coalbed methane (CBM) field in Binchang mining area of Huanglong Jurassic. There are many coalbed methane wells in the field, but few researches are performed on the formation mechanism of coalbed methane. Thus, it is of great guiding significance to clarify the geochemical characteristics and formation mechanism of coalbed methane (CBM) in the mine field, which could provide important basis for the analysis on productivity difference of high- and low-yield CBM Wells. For this reason, the samples of drained gas at the wellhead of six CBM wells, 22 coal samples of No.4 coal …