Role Played by Oil Emplacement in Controlling Pore Network Evolution of Tight Sandstones

Whether oil emplacement and diagenetic sequences provoke, deteriorate, or have no effect on pore network evolution, as implied by recent tests and theoretical analysis, are critical factors in forecasting hydrocarbon exploration and development potentials. Therefore, a systematic investigation on the effect of oil emplacement of tight sandstones is conducted to study the importance of this behavior on the pore evolution path. This study evaluated the role played by oil emplacement and diagenesis in the pore network evolution of Upper Triassic tight sandstones in the Ordos Basin. To help provide a comprehensive understanding, we have used a multidisciplinary method including physical properties, casting thin section, scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, fluorometric, and inclusion analysis. The results demonstrate that the sandstones could be divided into four groups based on new criteria: calcareous sandstone, high soft component sandstone, low soft component sandstone with continual oil emplacement, and low soft component sandstone with intermittent oil emplacement. The physical properties of those types of sandstones were gradually reduced. Quartz cement captured hydrocarbon, carbonate captured hydrocarbon, free hydrocarbon, and adsorbed hydrocarbon were the four main kinds of hydrocarbons. The maturity of those sandstones was decreased progressively, indicating that the formation time of those hydrocarbons was favorable to maturity. Four stages of oil emplacement happened, and large-scale emplacement mainly occurred in the late Jurassic and early Craterous. The evidence demonstrated that tight sandstones’ high porosity could be attributed to positive diagenetic contributions with a complex interplay of chemical compaction, early formed clays, and large-scale oil emplacement. This work would provide new sights for a better understanding of the tight oil accumulation modes, and the findings could be applied in the hydrocarbon exploration and development field.

Revisiting BeppoSAX and NuSTAR observations of KS 1947+300 and the missing cyclotron line

ABSTRACT Motivated by the alleged detection of a cyclotron resonance scattering feature in the X-ray spectrum of the Be-transient KS 1947+300 with NuSTAR, not observed with other observatories, we have revisited the available observations of the source to clarify the origin of the reported feature. We focus on the analysis of observations obtained with the BeppoSAX observatory during the 2001 outburst, and by NuSTAR in 2013, when the discovery of the line was reported. We find that in both cases, the source broad-band X-ray continuum can be well described with a two-component Comptonization model, which does not require an additional absorption-like feature. In addition, we show that low-significance residuals mimicking the line, which appear using different continuum models, are consistent with known calibration uncertainties. We therefore conclude that the reported cyclotron line detection is largely questionable, and thus the question on the strength of the source magnetic field remains open. We briefly discuss the origin of the observed broad-band continuum in the context of the pulse-phase-resolved analysis conducted for BeppoSAX data and speculate that the soft component may be associated with the emission from polar areas of the pulsar irradiated by the accretion column.

Mathematical Modeling of High-Energy Pressing Process of Graphite-Plastic Composition

The process of pressing a graphite-plastic composition is modeled by using plasticity theory methods. We have thus obtained dependencies for computing the pressure necessary to fill the space between the hard particles with the soft component of this composition. The paper presents an estimation of the energy intensity of this process.

XMM-Newton observations of the symbiotic recurrent nova T CrB: evolution of X-ray emission during the active phase

ABSTRACT We present an analysis of the XMM-Newton observations of the symbiotic recurrent nova T CrB, obtained during its active phase which started in 2014–2015. The XMM-Newton spectra of T CrB have two prominent components: a soft one (0.2–0.6 keV), well represented by blackbody emission, and a heavily absorbed hard component (2–10 keV), well matched by optically-thin plasma emission with high temperature (kT ≈ 8 keV). The XMM-Newton observations reveal evolution of the X-ray emission from T CrB in its active phase. Namely, the soft component in its spectrum is decreasing with time, while the opposite is true for the hard component. Comparison with data obtained in the quiescent phase shows that the soft component is typical only for the active phase, while the hard component is present in both phases but it is considerably stronger in the quiescent phase. Presence of stochastic variability (flickering) on time-scales of minutes and hours is confirmed both in X-rays and UV (UVM2 filter of the XMM-Newton optical monitor). On the other hand, periodic variability of 6000–6500 s is found for the first time in the soft X-ray emission (0.2–0.6 keV) from T CrB. We associate this periodic variability with the rotational period of the white dwarf in this symbiotic binary.

Feasibility Study of Selecting Soft Components of Body Armor

A body armor is vital for users in combat filed. Normally, the body armor have two components: soft and hard ones. This paper proposes feasibility assessment technique to evaluate contemporary materials: Kevlar, natural spider silk, and human hair, for making soft component of the body armor. There are four criteria: technical, economic, legal, and operational feasibilities to generate the feasibility assessment matrix. The optimal material in question is human hair which has highest rank at 82%.