Drilling fluid processing: preparation, maintenance and continuous conditioning
The following discussion is an overview of the operation of drilling fluids at the rig site, giving an insight to those less versed in the art of drilling oil and gas wells. Fluid processing at the rig site is currently a prime target for higher levels of mechanization and process control, leading towards automation. The drilling fluids' composition influences its properties and dynamic behaviour, and the various drilling fluid components and additives all have specific purposes related to the drilling process. The process of drilling fluid preparation and mixing on the drilling rig is described, and the means of maintaining suitable properties during the drilling process are discussed. Means and requirements are presented for enabling continuous conditioning of the drilling fluid to suit the variations in the wellbore and formation, pointing out current challenges in measurement, instrumentation, mechanization, and control that need to be solved. It is clear that a higher level of automation is required if we wish to achieve this goal.
Highly automated drilling fluids system improves HSE and efficiency, reduces personnel needs
Manual mud-mixing equipment have a higher risk of imprecision in the mixing process compared with highly automated systems.
Physical Processes in Inorganic Scintillators
BASIC PRINCIPLES AND PROCESSES Physical Mechanism of Scintillation Creation of Electron Hole Pairs Excitation and Emission of Luminescence Centers Scintillation Materials Halides Oxides and Oxide Systems Chalcogenides Glasses Interaction of Ionizing Radiation with Scintillators High Energy Photons Charged Particles Neutral Particles General Characteristics of Inorganic Scintillators Light Yield Duration of Scintillation Pulse Afterglow Temperature Response Optical Properties Radiation Hardness Density Emission Spectra Mechanical and Chemical Properties Physical Parameters Cost Consideration Scintillator Requirements in Various Applications High Energy Physics Intermediate Energy Physics Positron Emission Tomography Gamma Spectroscopy Energy Resolution Intrinsic Scintillator Resolution Nonproportional Response Time Resolution Low Energy Quanta and Electrons CONVERSION OF ELECTRONIC EXCITATIONS IN SOLIDS Charge Carrier Behaviors Delta Rays Secondaries Excitation of Luminescence Centers Effect of Ionization Density Energy Losses Simple Phenomenological Model Plasmon Model Polaron Model Scintillation Yield Spectra Vacuum Ultraviolet Region Ultrasoft X-Rays X-Rays Gamma Rays Heavy Ionizing Particles INTRINSIC LUMINESCENCE OF INORGANIC SCINTILLATORS Excitonic Luminescence Alkali Halide Crystals Alkaline-Earth Fluorides Ternary Halide Compounds Excitonic-Like Luminescence Cesium Iodide Tungstate and Molybdate Phosphors Core-to-Valence Transitions First Evidence for Radiative Core-to-Valence Transitions Excitation Spectra Emission Spectra Experiment Theory Luminescence Kinetics Experimental Theoretical Investigations Temperature Dependence of Luminescence Parameters Conditions of Detection Prospects for Research EXTRINSIC LUMINESCENCE OF INORGANIC SCINTILLATORS Thallium-Activated Halide Scintillators Crystals with NaCl-Type Structure Crystals with CsCl-Type Structure Other Thallium-Based and Thallium-Doped Crystals Crystals Containing Other ns2 Ions Bismuth Germanate (BGO) Sodium-Activated Cesium Iodide Rare-Earth-Activated Crystals General Considerations Europium-Activated Crystals Cerium-Activated Compounds Preliminary Comments LaF3-CeF3 Systems Cerium Chloride Barium Fluoride Gadolinium-Containing Crystals Lu- and Y-Containing Crystals Nd- and Pr-Activated Crystals DEFECT FORMATION BY IONIZING RADIATION Effect on Scintillator Characteristics Mechanisms of Defect Formation Efficiency of Defect Production Geometrical Factor Separation between F and H Centers Temperature Dependence of Production Efficiency Role of Halogen Ion Impurities Effect of Cation Impurities Formation Time of F-H Pairs Closing Comments References Index