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Air drilling is limited to competent formations that are essentially dry. In these circumstances large shale fragments are often observed and it is believed that these large shale fragments are not from the cutting action of drill bit at the bottom of the hole but from caving in, or sloughing of the wellbore wall. This type of wellbore instability problems may occur when drilling formations have significant amounts of water-sensitive clays. Change in shale water content due to water dehydration induces additional rock stresses near the wellbore, which can destabilize the borehole. The primary cause of this problem may well relate to moisture movement. Because as air is often used as the drilling fluid, the water in exposed pores will start to evaporate into the borehole, so that the water content is reduced. This results in the development of different stress patterns and the shale fractures and falls into the wellbore. The work of this thesis simulates the shrinkage and the consequent cracking pattern. A model of a bonded granular material is created and its properties confirm it to be that of a brittle, isotropic elastic solid. Crack growth is simulated by sequentially removing the most highly stressed bond in turn. A number of different geometries are simulated and the influence of stochastic bond strength on the cracking pattern is investigated. The model results show that cracking pattern produced in the simulations is consistent with the ‘blocky’ debris sometimes seen during air drilling and so the recommendation is made that air used for drilling should be sufficiently humid to avoid the dehydration of the shale.

This was the final statement in a report, prepared for the Namibian Programme to Combat Desertification (NAPCOD), which researched the process, praxis and environmental impacts of borehole provision in communal areas in Namibia (ENGEO, 1997).¹ This dissertation is a response to this concluding statement. It presents a theoretical model which provides a comprehensive yet simple environmental assessment and management framework to inform, guide and manage the provision of boreholes in communal areas in Namibia. The model has been designed to be cost effective, appropriate for its context and 'user-friendly'. Most importantly, the model aims to present a system which would promote principles of sustainability and, consequently, sustainable development in terms of borehole provision in communal areas in Namibia.

The occurrence of conductive sulphide in an otherwise highly-resistive host rock is the ideal situation for exploring using high-frequency electromagnetic methods. The FARA radio imaging (RIM) system was deployed to explore the rock properties between two boreholes MAC104 and MAC100G, which are about 182 m apart, on the Nickel Rim South property (MacLennan Township) 22 km northeast of Sudbury. Tomographic data were collected and processed at 625 kHz and 1250 kHz. One data set has the transmitter in MAC100G and the receiver in MAC104; the other “reciprocal” data set has the transmitter in MAC104 and the receiver in MAC100G. The amplitude data were reduced, edited, and processed to generate tomograms employing the SIRT algorithm. Separate tomograms were created for the reciprocal data sets in the ImageWin software. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to assess the influence that perturbations in the ImageWin processing parameters have on the resulting tomograms. The sensitivity study of the tomograms along with the information obtained from the value of fit analysis can be used to select appropriate processing parameters. Finally, the two reciprocal sets of conductivity values were averaged and imported into Geosoft to create a final tomogram for the panel. The resistivity values of the studied zone obtained from the FARA modeling package agree fairly well with the conductivity data set generated by the ImageWin modeling package when compared using the Geosoft and GOCAD visualization software. Differences between the two tomograms are attributed to the different solver methods employed by FARA and ImageWin and the statistical analysis used for averaging the attenuation value over ray paths. Furthermore, it is shown that the tomographic results are consistent with the location of conductive zones that were identified using down-hole geophysical logging. The main focus of the project is to understand how the radio imaging (RIM) data is processed with the ImageWin software to construct an attenuation tomogram. This research showed that both tomograms created by ImageWin and FARA illustrate the same pattern with two conductive zones at the same depth; however, the values of conductivity are slightly different. The FARA resistivity values obtained for the upper zone is a factor of two lower than the resistivity calculated by ImageWin. The resistivity values obtained for the lower zone using the FARA processing is a factor of eight lower than the resistivity calculated by ImageWin. Also, there is a slight discrepancy in the orientation of the upper and lower zones on the two tomographic images generated using the two processing packages. In the tomograms generated by FARA software both upper and lower zones are continuous linear zones from one hole to the other with dips from MAC104 towards MAC100G, whereas in the tomograms created by ImageWin the upper and lower zones are less linear and do not have obvious dips.

The aim of the thesis to explain the functionality of seasonal accumulation with an in-depth view on rock bed accumulator. The computational model is based on the project located in Attenkirchen, Germany. After the technical analysis of the model is carried out an economical review can be realized. To conclude the thesis an evaluation is made comparing an accumulation system with a more traditional one.

There is concern that the communal rangelands of Botswana are overstocked with cattle, and that this has led to unwanted ecological changes. These changes are assumed to be most prominent around boreholes. This study describes vegetation and soil piospheres around boreholes in Eastern Botswana and investigates factors associated with their development. The classical range succession model and its modifications, the bush encroachment theories and the soil-nutrient transfer model, have been applied here to explain changes in vegetation and soil variables with distance from artificial water points. Data on soil texture, soil nutrients, vegetation species composition and cover, dung weight and bare ground were collected from boreholes of different ages, with different numbers of cattle using them. Piosphere patterns were observed. However, some of the patterns were not in accordance with the classical range succession model and the bush encroachment theories. The frequent occurrence of palatable grasses (Panicum maximum, Setaria verticiliata and Digitaria milanjiand) nearer to water points where the grazing pressure is highest, and of unpalatable ones (Aristida congesta and Eragrostis rigidior) further away, where the grazing pressure is minimal, contradicts the classical range succession model. Total tree cover along the gradient did not show any changes, which contradicts bush encroachment theory (two-layer soil moisture model). The concentration of soil nutrients and dung weight close to boreholes was well predicted by the soil-nutrient transfer model. The frequency of Acacia tortilis and Dicrostachys cinerea and bare patches, increased towards boreholes. Grass cover, occurrence of Terminalia sericea, Boscia albitrunca and Combretum apiculatum increased with distance from water points. The results suggest that the range succession model and its modification, the twolayer soil moisture model, cannot satisfactorily explain vegetation changes with distance from water points. Species composition at a point may be affected by the growth, survival, recovery and reproductive strategies of different species, fire, selectivity of browsers and nutrients status, as well as grazing disturbance. Therefore, the 'state and transition' model is recommended, as it considers factors that are ignored by the classical range succession model, and is appropriate for analysing vegetation change under highly variable rainfall. The adverse impacts of grazing around boreholes could be reduced by controlling cattle distribution on the range as a whole.

Permafrost temperatures were measured by the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC) in 1977-1981 at boreholes along a proposed pipeline route in the southern Yukon. Analysis of climate station records indicate that mean annual air temperatures in the region have since increased by 0.5-1.0˚C. Renewed interest in the pipeline and the need to develop adaptation strategies for existing highway infrastructure have meant that information on permafrost and geotechnical conditions must be updated. To accomplish this goal, a total of eight GSC boreholes ranging in depth from 5-9 m were located, unblocked of ice and instrumented with thermistor cables and data-loggers to permit renewed ground temperature monitoring. Manual temperature measurements were also taken at four other shallow boreholes. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys were conducted at each site. MAGTs below 1 m at permafrost sites in the study area range from -0.2˚C to -1.5˚C with permafrost depths greater than 25 m. The permafrost at the study sites can be classified as sporadic discontinuous and extensive discontinuous. Ground temperatures indicate that permafrost can persist under warmer climatic conditions as long as it remains protected by its ecosystem properties. Thermal monitoring for 2011-2012 shows an average increase of 0.5-1.0˚C when compared to the original 1978-1981 ground temperatures. This slow rate of ground warming is mainly attributed to a combination of limited climate change, especially in the south of the study area, ground temperatures close to 0˚C, and the possible disturbance of sites from the removal of vegetation prior to the original measurements being made. ERT surveys conducted at most borehole sites show deeper thaw or taliks where the cleared cut-line used for geophysical work in the 1970s is crossed. These results indicate the impacts of climate change and environmental change in the study area over the past three decades. They appear to match the relatively slow rates of ground warming observed elsewhere in northern Canada where permafrost temperatures are close to 0˚C and where warming also requires changes in latent heat due to internal thaw. TTOP equilibrium modelling suggests that if climate change is responsible for the ground warming, most of the change can be attributed to the step-like MAAT increase that occurred between 1975-1976.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:41:13Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T14:08:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Dissertação (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN-CNEN/SP