Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaf 123-127) Also available in print.

The Jurassic Tilje Formation located on the Norwegian continental shelf contains many thick (>10 mm) and macroscopically homogenous mudstone layers. These mudstone layers are interpreted to have accumulated rapidly from “fluid-mud,” a highly concentrated aqueous suspension of fine-grained sediment. Fluid muds in the Tilje are recognized in tidal-fluvial channel, mouth-bar and distal delta-front environments. From detailed thin-section work it is clear that these mudstone layers are not homogenous. Three facies are observed: unstratified mudstone (UM), some of which contain “floating” coarse grains, planar-laminated mudstone (PLM) and cross-laminated mudstone (CLM). Each facies represents deposition at differing suspended-sediment concentrations (SSC) (UM−high SSC, PLM−low-moderate SSC and CLM−low SSC). The thickest mudstone layers are always associated with underlying dune-scale cross-bedding, which has led to a proposed model where fluid mud can accumulate and is protected from the over-riding flow in the troughs of large dunes. This model is most relevant to tidal-fluvial channels where large dunes occur in the deepest water and in terminal distributary channels in mouth bars. The vertical stacking of facies within a single mudstone layer allows reconstruction of changes of the near-bed SSC values and current velocities that reflect deceleration and acceleration of the tidal currents over the tidal cycle or waning wave energy following a storm. Based on repeating patters termed “vertical successions” and “succession combinations,” individual tidal cycles can be observed within single mudstone layers and the relative strength of subordinate and dominant currents can be ii inferred. To aide in the understanding of how mud can accumulate over the complete range of SSCs, current velocities and grain sizes, a preliminary three-dimensional bedform phase diagram has been constructed for fine-grained sediment based on recent flumes studies. The phase diagram can be applied to mudrocks beyond the Tilje Formation. / Thesis (Master, Geological Sciences & Geological Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2013-09-15 17:14:19.827

Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD) has been used internationally for the trenchless installation of utility conduits and other infrastructure. However, the mud loss problem caused by excessive mud pressure in the borehole is still a challenge encountered by trenchless designers and contractors, especially when the drilling crosses through cohesionless material. Investigation of mud loss problem is necessary to apply HDD with greater confidence for installation of pipes and other infrastructure. The main objectives of this research have been to investigate the maximum allowable mud pressure to prevent mud loss through finite element analysis and small scale and large scale laboratory experiments. The recent laboratory experiments on mud loss within sand are reported. Comparisons indicate that the finite element method provides an effective estimation of maximum mud pressure, and “state-of-the-art” design practice- the “Delft solution” overestimates the maximum mud pressure by more than 100%. The surface displacements exhibit a “bell” shape with the maximum surface displacement located around the center of the borehole based on the data interpreted using Particle Image Velocimetry (Geo-PIV) program. A parametric study is carried out to investigate the effect of various parameters such as the coefficient of lateral earth pressure at rest K0 on the maximum allowable mud pressure within sand. An approximate equation is developed to facilitate design estimates of the maximum allowable mud pressure within sand. A new approach is introduced to consider the effects of coefficient of lateral earth pressure at rest K0 on the blowout solution within clay. The evaluations using finite element method indicate that the new approach provides a better estimation of the maximum allowable mud pressure than the “Delft solution” in clay when initial ground stress state is anisotropic (K0 ≠1). Conclusion of this research and suggestions on future investigation are provided. / Thesis (Ph.D, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2009-01-14 12:23:35.069

Mud crab Scylla serrata is a crustacean that spends most of its life cycle in the mangrove environment throughout its range. Fishery and aquaculture of this crab are significant economic activities in coastal areas in the tropics and sub-tropics because of the meat quality and nutritional value. However there is a significant shortage of information on the ecology, fishery and aquaculture of these crabs in sub-Saharan Africa. This impacts the development of a sustainable aquaculture and fishery for the benefit of coastal communities. The present study analyses various aspects of mud crab ecology, fishery, aquaculture and social economics in East Africa using multidisciplinary approaches. The results are given in seven papers based on field and laboratory studies. The study established for the first time that high intertidal mangrove back-flats constitute a key habitat for the earliest instars of S. serrata (4 -30 mm CW). It also showed that diurnal tidal migration behaviour occurs in small juveniles that migrate to sub-tidal habitats during the day, possibly due to variable predation risks. Monthly sampling of juveniles in Kenya and Tanzania indicated continuous recruitment throughout the year. The large numbers of juvenile crabs along mangrove fringes indicate that these habitats could serve as sites suitable for collection of juvenile crabs for aquaculture. However, these areas must also be managed and protected to support the recruitment to the wild crab populations. An assessment of the crab fishery indicated that artisanal crab fishers possess significant traditional knowledge mainly inherited from their parents that enabled them to exploit the resource. Such knowledge could be useful for the development of the aquaculture and in management of the fishery. Mud crab fishing was found to be a male dominated activity, and fishers on foot practiced fishing in burrows at spring low tides. Interviews indicated that the average size of marketable crabs has declined over the years and a weak management system was observed with most fishers operating without a license. Due to the knowledge required regarding the local conditions, fishers are unable to shift to new areas. Furthermore fishers and could not fish at neap tides. Such limitations provide a “natural closure” of the fishery. Also foot fishers cover fairly limited distances in their daily operations, an aspect that can be utilized to effect site-specific management for the fishery if necessary. Laboratory and field experiments indicated that cannibalistic interactions are heavily influenced both by size differences of crabs and the availability of shelter but no significant effect was found for different stocking densities. Such information is of direct importance for crab farmers in East Africa, where seed from the wild are of multiple sizes and there is a need to grade juvenile crabs and provide shelter at stocking to ensure maximum survival. Experimental studies in earthen pond and mangrove pen cultures indicated high mortality rates. Comparing growth in earthen pond and mangrove pen systems indicated that growth rates were generally high in both systems, but significantly lower in pen systems without shelter, suggesting that shelter may have a stronger effect on growth than has been previously thought. Similar to artisanal mud crab fishery, an assessment of small-scale mud crab farming by organized community groups in Kenya indicated low level of women participation. A good knowledge of the market existed among the mud crab farming groups where hotels and exporters offered the highest prices. However there is a need for national policies to be directed to support small-scale aquaculture development by ensuring training and capacity building for women, operation and management of groups, data management and provision of user rights for communities working in the mangrove environment. Market analyses showed that the common market size of crabs in East Africa ranged between 500-1000 g and are thus larger than in Southeast Asia where the average size is reported at 300 g. Prices for mud crabs were over 50 % lower in Tanzania than in other East African countries and most of the profit was earned by middlemen and exporters. Cost revenue analysis showed that it would be more profitable to farm smaller commercial crabs, and develop a market for 300 g crabs to increase the profitability of crab farming in East Africa. Also, the same analyses found that farming large crabs in individual cages, which is the dominant culture form in East Africa today, had very low profitability due to high labor costs and low growth rates. Using a step-wise function of natural growth it was shown that growth rates of S. serrata cultured in cages was 40 % of the growth rates obtained in experimental pond and pen cultures, which were similar to natural growth. Therefore the good performance of grow-out cultures of juvenile mud crabs in earthen ponds and mangrove pens showed a potential to develop into a profitable and sustainable intervention. However, more work is needed to improve survival in culture systems and address the identified limitations of crab seeds and feed to enable development of sustainable mud crab aquaculture in East Africa.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2002. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 70-74). Also available online.

This thesis introduces a workflow to accomplish invasion-consistent Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) measurement interpretations. Magnetic resonance measurements are affected by mud-filtrate invasion because the radial depth of investigation (DOI) of NMR logging tools is very shallow (approximately 1 to 4 inches). This characteristic indicates that identification of in-situ fluid saturations from NMR measurements is uncertain. Calculation of fluid saturations from apparent electrical resistivities and nuclear logs does not guarantee a precise estimation of the fluid distributions. Free water in the reservoir displaced by oil based mud (OBM) poses more challenges in the estimation of in-situ fluid saturations. To mitigate this ambiguity, I construct layer-by-layer static and dynamic reservoir models. The common stratigraphic framework (CSF) proposed by Voss et al. (2009) was used to construct the earth model. Appraisal of static petrophysical properties is based on the iterative adjustments to minimize the discrepancy between available well logs and their numerical simulations. Evaluation of dynamic petrophysical properties can be achieved with the simulation of mud-filtrate invasion. This simulation can assess accurate fluid saturations at specific radial distances. In addition, numerically simulated apparent resistivity and nuclear logs are in agreement with measured logs. Algorithms are also developed to cross-validate NMR measurements based on the assumption of spherically shaped water-wet pores. The algorithms need all petrophysical parameters and fluid saturations yielded from the dynamic model as inputs. Various NMR parameter changes were tested to validate this algorithm. Examples of NMR responses include wettability change and kerogen contained in nano-scale pores. For the field case examples, two 15 meter-thick depth intervals in oil- and gas-bearing siliciclastic formations were selected. Two-dimensional (2D) NMR simulations were performed with petrophysical parameters provided from the numerical simulation of mud-filtrate invasion. The 2D NMR maps are more favorable in fluid typing than conventional NMR T₂ distributions because they contrast fluid diffusion coefficient. Comparisons of simulation results to inversion results confirm the validity of the workflow introduced in this thesis for the quantification of virgin reservoir fluids and mud-filtrate saturations. Finally, forward modeling and inversion processes are applied to 2D NMR data. The reconstructed echo decay sequences are more advantageous than raw measurements because of their higher signal to noise ratio (SNR). Linear inversion using these echo decay sequences provides proton density distribution functions of D-T₂ and T₁-T₂ maps. Application of inversion to the two field cases measured from two different radial depths verifies the validity of the NMR interpretations. / text

In kraft pulp mills, lime is used to convert sodium carbonate to sodium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2). The causticizing reaction precipitates lime mud which is washed, dewatered, and calcined in a lime kiln to generate lime for reuse. Clean, dry, and more stable lime mud helps reducing the energy usage of the kiln, improving burner flame stability, minimizing ring formation, and alleviating emissions of reduced sulphur gases from the kiln stack. The dewatering efficiency of lime mud is greatly affected by the mud and liquor properties, and the equipment design and operation. The properties of the mud vary continuously due to changes in the liquor strength, lime quality and dosage, which is known as the “liming ratio”. Many studies have been carried out to relate lime mud properties to dewatering and filtration behaviours, the mechanisms by which lime mud becomes difficult to settle and filter are not well understood. A systematic study was therefore conducted to examine the effect of the liming ratio on the settling rate and filterability of lime mud. The results show that the mud settling rate and filterability decreased with an increase in liming ratio. The effect was more noticeable as the liming ratio exceeded a critical level leading to an overliming condition. The results also show that the particle size of the resulting lime mud did not appreciably change with liming ratio. Therefore, the decrease in settling rate and filterability cannot be attributed to the smaller particle size of Ca(OH)2 compared to that of lime mud as commonly believed. Rather, it was caused by a change in zeta potential of Ca(OH)2-containing mud particles.This study also shows that the zeta potential of the mud slurry increases proportionally to the free lime content in the lime mud. This suggests that the zeta potential can be used to indicate the extent of overliming in the causticizing plant. The correlation between zeta potential and free lime content can be used to develop an on-line overliming monitoring system to help regulate theamount of lime addition to the system to achieve optimum operating conditions for the mud settling and filtering equipment.

In kraft pulp mills, lime is used to convert sodium carbonate to sodium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2). The causticizing reaction precipitates lime mud which is washed, dewatered, and calcined in a lime kiln to generate lime for reuse. Clean, dry, and more stable lime mud helps reducing the energy usage of the kiln, improving burner flame stability, minimizing ring formation, and alleviating emissions of reduced sulphur gases from the kiln stack. The dewatering efficiency of lime mud is greatly affected by the mud and liquor properties, and the equipment design and operation. The properties of the mud vary continuously due to changes in the liquor strength, lime quality and dosage, which is known as the “liming ratio”. Many studies have been carried out to relate lime mud properties to dewatering and filtration behaviours, the mechanisms by which lime mud becomes difficult to settle and filter are not well understood. A systematic study was therefore conducted to examine the effect of the liming ratio on the settling rate and filterability of lime mud. The results show that the mud settling rate and filterability decreased with an increase in liming ratio. The effect was more noticeable as the liming ratio exceeded a critical level leading to an overliming condition. The results also show that the particle size of the resulting lime mud did not appreciably change with liming ratio. Therefore, the decrease in settling rate and filterability cannot be attributed to the smaller particle size of Ca(OH)2 compared to that of lime mud as commonly believed. Rather, it was caused by a change in zeta potential of Ca(OH)2-containing mud particles.This study also shows that the zeta potential of the mud slurry increases proportionally to the free lime content in the lime mud. This suggests that the zeta potential can be used to indicate the extent of overliming in the causticizing plant. The correlation between zeta potential and free lime content can be used to develop an on-line overliming monitoring system to help regulate theamount of lime addition to the system to achieve optimum operating conditions for the mud settling and filtering equipment.

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