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One of the main objectives in the Oil & Gas Industry is to constantly improve the reservoir management capabilities by using production optimization strategies that can positively impact the so-called net-present value (NPV) of a given project. In order to achieve this goal the industry is faced with the difficult task of maximizing hydrocarbon production and minimizing unwanted fluids, such as water, while sustaining or even enhancing the reservoir recovery factor by handling properly the fluids at surface facilities. A key element in this process is the understanding of the interactions between subsurface and subsurface dynamics in order to provide insightful production strategies which honor reservoir management surface facility constraints. The implementation of the ideal situation of fully coupling surface/subsurface has been hindered by the required computational efforts involved in the process. Consequently, various types of partially coupling that require less computational efforts are practically implemented. Due to importance of coupling surface and subsurface model on production optimization and taking the advantage of advancing computational performance, this research explores the concept of surface and subsurface model couplings and production optimization. The research aims at demonstrating the role of coupling of surface and subsurface model on production optimization under simple production constraint (i.e. production and injection pressure limit). The normal production prediction runs with various reservoir description (homogeneous-low permeability, homogeneous-high permeability, and heterogeneous permeability) and different fluid properties (dead-oil PVT and lived-oil PVT) were performed in order to understand the effect of coupling level, and coupling scheme with different reservoir descriptions and fluid properties on production and injection rate prediction. The result shows that for dead-oil PVT, the production rate from different coupling schemes in homogeneous and heterogeneous reservoir is less sensitive than lived-oil PVT cases. For lived-oil PVT, the production rate from different coupling schemes in homogeneous high permeability and heterogeneous permeability are more sensitive than homogeneous low permeability. The production optimization on water flooding under production and injection constraint cases is considered here also.

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No description available.

Electrospinning is a novel technique to fabricate non-woven fibers with sizes ranging from nano to micrometers. Polymers have been electrospun into nanofibers that can be developed into desirable materials with excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability for biomedical applications in wound healing and tissue regeneration. These nanofiber materials can be further functionalized to be loaded with bioactive molecules, including antibacterial agents, functional proteins that promote tissue reconstruction while protect host tissues from contamination. This study focuses on the development of multifunctional nanofibers that are incorporated with antibacterial drug(s) and immobilized with bioactive proteins. These nanofibers are potentially useful for wound care and tissue engineering scaffolding to provide both infection control and promotion of wound healing or tissue regenerations.

A frequency selective surface (FSS) based on switchable slots in the ground plane is presented. The switching is done using an actuating MEMS bridge over the slot. The intent is to demonstrate the control of the resonance frequency of the FSS by deflecting the bridge. It is shown that by applying a voltage between the bridge and the ground plane, the bridge displaces and changes the system capacitance which in turn changes the resonance frequency. Two analyses are presented; (1) Electromechanical analysis to show how the bridge deflects by the voltage, (2) Electromagnetic analysis to show how the resonance frequency changes by the bridge deflection. The device was fabricated and tested. The measurement results are presented for two up and down positions of the MEMS bridge to verify the correctness of the theory and design.

The main goal of this research is to contribute to the understanding of nutrient transport and transformations in soil and its impact on groundwater on a large scale. This thesis specifically integrates the physical, chemical and biochemical nitrogen transport processes with a spatial and temporal Land Surface Scheme (LSS). Since the nitrogen biotransformation kinetics highly depends on soil moisture and soil temperature, a vertical soil nitrogen transport and transformations model was coupled with SABAE-HW. The model provides an improved interface for groundwater modeling to simulate soil moisture and soil temperature for a wide range of soil and vegetation. It is assumed that the main source of organic N is from animal manure. A-single-pool nitrogen transformation is designed to simulate nitrogen dynamics. Thus, the complete mathematical model (SABAE-HWS) is able to investigate the effects of nitrogen biochemical reactions in all seasons. This thesis reports the first field comparison of SABAE-HW using an extensive ten-year data set from BOREAS/BERMS project located in Saskatchewan, Canada. The performance of SABAE-HWS is calibrated and verified using 3 years (2002-2004) data from Carberry site in Canada, Manitoba. The effects of three rates of hog manure application, 2500, 5000, and 7500 gal/acre, was investigated to study the distribution of soil ammonium and soil nitrate within the 120 cm of soil profile. The results clearly showed that there is a good agreement between observed and simulated soil ammonium and nitrate for all treatment at the first two years of study. However, it was found a significant difference between observations and simulations at lower depths for 7500 gal/acre by the end of growing season of 2004. Also, 10 years climate data from OJP site was used to evaluate the effect of manure rates on the distribution of soil nitrate at Carberry site. The results indicated that to minimize the risk of nitrate leaching, the rate of manure application, accumulated soil nitrogen from earlier applications and the atmospheric conditions should be all taken into account at the same time. Comparing the results of SABAE-HWS and SHAW model also showed the importance of the crop growth model in simulating soil NH4-N and NO3-N.

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No description available.