The most important aspect of laboratory analysis is undoubtedly to acquire data of the highest quality. The worldwide trend of drilling into deeper reservoirs characterised by the high temperature and high pressure (HTHP) conditions makes the newly discovered reservoirs challenging because of bearing fluids with an unprecedented diversity of phase behaviour and variability of phase parameters over time. Due to the high temperature of the deep horizons constituting the reservoir rock, many individual components of the reservoir fluids are located in a region close to their critical temperatures, i.e. gas condensate (retrograde condensation region) or volatile oil. In particular, gas condensate reservoirs are challenging to analyse. They are highly prone to the errors resulting from phase behaviour testing when using samples that are incompatible with the original reservoir in-situ fluid that saturates the reservoir rock pores. Taking the representative samples of reservoir fluid is an essential requirement to obtain reliable data that can characterise such phase-variable multicomponent reservoirs. The primary purpose of hydrocarbon fluid analysis in case of new discoveries is to determine the type of reservoir fluid system. It should also be borne in mind that without a sufficiently long production process from several intervals and/or several wells, it can be challenging to classify the fluid with confidence, especially at the initial analysis stage. The paper presents issues related to sampling of the reservoir fluid (such as crude oil and natural gas) for the physical property and phase behaviour analyses (PVT), usually accompanied by chemical analyses. The importance of representativeness of the samples in performing reliable tests that have a significant impact on the hydrocarbon production was discussed. The data obtained from the PVT laboratory are widely used in economic reports concerning local, regional or finally national hydrocarbon reserves. Other applications of the PVT data include coordination of reservoir exploitation methods related to a particular fluid composition, as well as input to design requirements for the surface facilities development, and selection of the suitable technology for hydrocarbon fluid treatment prior to introduction to the market. Various techniques of downhole sampling were mentioned and characterised with an explanation of their applicability. The criteria for selection of a proper method were also presented.
In the case of fracturing of the reservoirs using fracturing fluids, the size of damage to the proppant conductivity caused by treatment fluids is significant, which greatly influence the effective execution of hydraulic fracturing operations. The fracturing fluid should be characterized by the minimum damage to the conductivity of a fracture filled with proppant. A laboratory research procedure has been developed to study the damage effect caused by foamed and non-foamed fracturing fluids in the fractures filled with proppant material. The paper discusses the results for high quality foamed guar-based linear gels, which is an innovative aspect of the work compared to the non-foamed frac described in most of the studies and simulations. The tests were performed for the fracturing fluid based on a linear polymer (HPG—hydroxypropyl guar, in liquid and powder form). The rheology of nitrogen foamed-based fracturing fluids (FF) with a quality of 70% was investigated. The quartz sand and ceramic light proppant LCP proppant was placed between two Ohio sandstone rock slabs and subjected to a given compressive stress of 4000–6000 psi, at a temperature of 60 °C for 5 h. A significant reduction in damage to the quartz proppant was observed for the foamed fluid compared to that damaged by the 7.5 L/m3 natural polymer-based non-foamed linear fluid. The damage was 72.3% for the non-foamed fluid and 31.5% for the 70% foamed fluid, which are superior to the guar gum non-foamed fracturing fluid system. For tests based on a polymer concentration of 4.88 g/L, the damage to the fracture conductivity by the non-foamed fluid was 64.8%, and 26.3% for the foamed fluid. These results lead to the conclusion that foamed fluids could damage the fracture filled with proppant much less during hydraulic fracturing treatment. At the same time, when using foamed fluids, the viscosity coefficient increases a few times compared to the use of non-foamed fluids, which is necessary for proppant carrying capacities and properly conducted stimulation treatment. The research results can be beneficial for optimizing the type and performance of fracturing fluid for hydraulic fracturing in tight gas formations.
The gastrointestinal tract (GIT) can be broadly divided into several regions: the stomach, the small intestine (which is subdivided to duodenum, jejunum, and ileum), and the colon. The conditions and environment in each of these segments, and even within the segment, are dependent on many factors, e.g., the surrounding pH, fluid composition, transporters expression, metabolic enzymes activity, tight junction resistance, different morphology along the GIT, variable intestinal mucosal cell differentiation, changes in drug concentration (in cases of carrier-mediated transport), thickness and types of mucus, and resident microflora. Each of these variables, alone or in combination with others, can fundamentally alter the solubility/dissolution, the intestinal permeability, and the overall absorption of various drugs. This is the underlying mechanistic basis of regional-dependent intestinal drug absorption, which has led to many attempts to deliver drugs to specific regions throughout the GIT, aiming to optimize drug absorption, bioavailability, pharmacokinetics, and/or pharmacodynamics. In this Editorial we provide an overview of the Special Issue "Regional Intestinal Drug Absorption: Biopharmaceutics and Drug Formulation". The objective of this Special Issue is to highlight the current progress and to provide an overview of the latest developments in the field of regional-dependent intestinal drug absorption and delivery, as well as pointing out the unmet needs of the field.
<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Esophageal motility disorders have a severe impact on patients’ quality of life. While high-resolution manometry (HRM) is the gold standard in the diagnosis of esophageal motility disorders, intermittently occurring muscular deficiencies often remain undiscovered if they do not lead to an intense level of discomfort or cause suffering in patients. Ambulatory long-term HRM allows us to study the circadian (dys)function of the esophagus in a unique way. With the prolonged examination period of 24 h, however, there is an immense increase in data which requires personnel and time for evaluation not available in clinical routine. Artificial intelligence (AI) might contribute here by performing an autonomous analysis. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> On the basis of 40 previously performed and manually tagged long-term HRM in patients with suspected temporary esophageal motility disorders, we implemented a supervised machine learning algorithm for automated swallow detection and classification. <b><i>Results:</i></b> For a set of 24 h of long-term HRM by means of this algorithm, the evaluation time could be reduced from 3 days to a core evaluation time of 11 min for automated swallow detection and clustering plus an additional 10–20 min of evaluation time, depending on the complexity and diversity of motility disorders in the examined patient. In 12.5% of patients with suggested esophageal motility disorders, AI-enabled long-term HRM was able to reveal new and relevant findings for subsequent therapy. <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> This new approach paves the way to the clinical use of long-term HRM in patients with temporary esophageal motility disorders and might serve as an ideal and clinically relevant application of AI.
Laboratory Testing of Fracture Conductivity Damage by Foam-Based Fracturing Fluids in Low Permeability Tight Gas Formations