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Alaska natural gas hydrate production testing: Test site selection, characterization and testing operations
This Interagency Agreement supports the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its research partners in understanding, predicting, and testing the recoverability and potential production characteristics of onshore natural gas hydrate in the Greater Prudhoe Bay area on the Alaska North Slope (ANS: Prudhoe Bay, Kuparuk River, and Milne Point areas) or other areas deemed suitable by DOE and USGS for potential long-term production testing of gas hydrate. Researchers will accomplish these tasks by evaluating the occurrence and resource potential of the known gas hydrate accumulations in the Eileen trend. Geologic, geochemical, and geophysical (2-D and 3-D seismic surveys) data from northern Alaska and other data sources, including wireline and mud log surveys of wells of opportunity, will be used to assess the occurrence and nature of the known gas hydrate accumulations. The project involves two primary areas of effort: the geologic and engineering assessment of the Eileen gas-hydrate accumulation and support of DOE and its industry partners in evaluating, planning, and preparing for drilling and testing gas hydrate research wells in northern Alaska.
Performance evaluation testing of wells in the gradient control system at a federally operated Confined Disposal Facility using single well aquifer tests, East Chicago, Indiana
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) performed tests to evaluate the hydrologic connection between the open interval of the well and the surrounding Calumet aquifer in response to fouling of extraction well pumps onsite. Two rounds of air slug testing were performed on seven monitoring wells and step drawdown and subsequent recovery tests on three extraction wells on a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Confined Disposal Facility (CDF) in East Chicago, Indiana. The wells were tested in 2014 and again in 2015. The extraction and monitoring wells are part of the gradient control system that establishes an inward gradient around the perimeter of the facility. The testing established a set of protocols that site personnel can use to evaluate onsite well integrity and develop a maintenance procedure to evaluate future well performance. The results of the slug test analysis data indicate that the hydraulic connection of the well screen to the surrounding aquifer material in monitoring wells on the CDF and the reliability of hydraulic conductivity estimates of the surrounding geologic media could be increased by implementing well development maintenance. Repeated air slug tests showed increasing hydraulic conductivity until, in the case of the monitoring wells located outside of the groundwater cutoff wall (MW–4B, MW–11B, MW–14B), the difference in hydraulic conductivity from test to test decreased, indicating the results were approaching the optimal hydraulic connection between the aquifer and the well screen. Hydraulic conductivity values derived from successive tests in monitoring well D40, approximately 0.25 mile south of the CDF, were substantially higher than those derived from wells on the CDF property. Also, values did not vary from test to test like those measured in monitoring wells located on the CDF property, which indicated that a process may be affecting the connectivity of the wells on the CDF property to the Calumet aquifer. Derived hydraulic conductivity values from the initial air slug test during the 2015 testing period for MW–11A and MW–14A are an order of magnitude less than those derived from the final test during the 2014 testing period indicating the development of a low conductivity skin between the final test of the 2014 testing period and the beginning of the 2015 testing period that created a decrease in the connection of the monitoring well screen to the surrounding aquifer material. Repeated step drawdown and recovery testing of the extraction wells tested during this study provided results that indicate a slight increase in the development of a skin and a decrease in the connectivity of the extraction wells with the Calumet aquifer. Hydraulic conductivity values obtained from the test results were relatively similar in EW–4B and EW–14A but were substantially lower for EW–11C. This difference may be due to the presence of finer grained silt deposits in the area surrounding well nest 11. Skin factors calculated during the step drawdown and recovery analysis were lowest in EW–11C and relatively similar in EW–4B and EW–14A. Calculated skin factors increased slightly in the analysis of data collected in 2015 from that collected in 2014. Comparisons of the specific-capacity values calculated from well development data collected following extraction well installation to those calculated during the single well aquifer tests at EW–4B, EW–14A and EW–11C indicate that the productivity of extraction wells on the CDF property has diminished since 2008. Values calculated for monitoring wells MW–4A, MW–11A, and MW–14A were used to evaluate the decrease in air slug derived hydraulic conductivity for monitoring wells within the groundwater cutoff wall between testing in 2014 and 2015. Results from testing by this study indicate that implementation of an air slug testing regimen of the monitoring wells that control the gradient control system at the CDF throughout the course of a year may help sustain the connectivity between the monitoring wells and the surrounding aquifer and provide data to evaluate the need for different types of well development approaches to address chemical or biological fouling issues. Repeated step drawdown and recovery testing of the extraction wells tested during this study provided results that indicate a slight increase in the development of a skin and a decrease in the connectivity of the extraction wells with the Calumet aquifer. Implementation of a specific capacity testing regimen can provide data to record and track well condition through time for individual extraction wells. Results from aquifer testing by this study indicate that specific capacity test results, when paired with recovery testing, provide useful data to measure the development of any low conductivity wellbore skin through the skin factors derived for the individual extraction wells. An initial annual schedule of specific capacity and recovery tests would provide sufficient data to identify substantial short-term changes in the operating condition of the extraction wells.
Test drilling and aquifer test in the Marburg schist near Mount Airy, Frederick County, Maryland
This memorandum summarizes briefly the data obtained by test drilling and in an aquifer test at Mount Airy, Md. The tests were a part of the State - Federal cooperative study of the ground-water resources of Frederick County, and it is intended that a more complete analysis of the test data will be included in a future report describing the ground-water resource of Frederick County. The purpose of this memorandum is to make the test data immediately available to the general public. Mount Airy is located along the Carroll-Frederick County boundary bout 2 miles north of the intersection of U.S. Highway 40 with the county boundary. Its population is approximately 1,000. The municipal well field, consisting of two drilled wells (fig. 1) is in a valley about one-half mile west of the center of Mount Airy, within about 400 feet of a small stream, and north of Prospect Road. Well 1, about 40 feet north of Prospect Road, is 125 feet deep, 8 inches in diameter, and reportedly yielded 265 gallons per minute (gpm) in 1947 and 201 gpm in a half hour test in March 1955. The writer determined during the tests described in this memorandum that the well has about 34 feet of casing. Well 2, 85 feet north of well 1, is 96 feet deep, 8 inches in diameter, and reportedly yielded 120 gpm in 1947 and 127 gpm in a half hour test in March 1955. The wells are equipped with deep-well turbine pumps powered by electric motors. Cenorally only well 1 is used, and it is pumped for only a few short intervals each day to meet the water requirements of the town (about 75,000 - 80,000 gallons daily). The reported yields of these wells are considerably higher than the average for crystalline-rock wells in the Piedmont of Maryland. The test drilling was done under contract with Edward I. Brown, well driller, between May 3 and May 12, 1955. Water-supply facilities of the town of Mount Airy were kindly made available for the aquifer tests from May 22 to May 30, 1955. The pumping tests consisted of a step-drawdown and interference test on the public-supply wells on May 30, 1955, and aquifer test in which public-supply well 1 was pumped constantly for 48 hours and the effect of this pumpage was measured in all the wells and test holes on May 23-25.
Documentation of spreadsheets for the analysis of aquifer-test and slug-test data
Several spreadsheets have been developed for the analysis of aquifer-test and slug-test data. Each spreadsheet incorporates analytical solution(s) of the partial differential equation for ground-water flow to a well for a specific type of condition or aquifer. The derivations of the analytical solutions were previously published. Thus, this report abbreviates the theoretical discussion, but includes practical information about each method and the important assumptions for the applications of each method. These spreadsheets were written in Microsoft Excel 9.0 (use of trade names does not constitute endorsement by the USGS). Storage properties should not be estimated with many of the spreadsheets because most are for analyzing single-well tests. Estimation of storage properties from single-well tests is generally discouraged because single-well tests are affected by wellbore storage and by well construction. These non-ideal effects frequently cause estimates of storage to be erroneous by orders of magnitude. Additionally, single-well tests are not sensitive to aquifer-storage properties. Single-well tests include all slug tests (Bouwer and Rice Method, Cooper, Bredehoeft, Papadopulos Method, and van der Kamp Method), the Cooper-Jacob straight-line Method, Theis recovery-data analysis, Jacob-Lohman method for flowing wells in a confined aquifer, and the step-drawdown test. Multi-well test spreadsheets included in this report are; Hantush-Jacob Leaky Aquifer Method and Distance-Drawdown Methods. The distance-drawdown method is an equilibrium or steady-state method, thus storage cannot be estimated.
Formation pressure testing at the Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well, Alaska North Slope: Operational summary, history matching, and interpretations
In February 2007, the U.S. Department of Energy, BP Exploration (Alaska), and the U.S. Geological Survey, collected open-hole pressure-response data, as well as gas and water sample collection, in a gas hydrate reservoir (the BPXA-DOE-USGS Mount Elbert Gas Hydrate Stratigraphic Test Well) using Schlumberger's Modular Dynamics Formation Tester (MDT) wireline tool. Four such MDT tests, ranging from six to twelve hours duration, and including a series of flow, sampling, and shut-in periods of various durations, were conducted. Locations for the testing were selected based on NMR and other log data to assure sufficient isolation from reservoir boundaries and zones of excess free water. Test stages in which pressure was reduced sufficiently to mobilize free water in the formation (yet not cause gas hydrate dissociation) produced readily interpretable pressure build-up profiles. Build-ups following larger drawdowns consistently showed gas-hydrate dissociation and gas release (as confirmed by optical fluid analyzer data), as well as progressive dampening of reservoir pressure build-up during sequential tests at a given MDT test station. History matches of one multi-stage, 12-h test (the C2 test) were accomplished using five different reservoir simulators: CMG-STARS, HydrateResSim, MH21-HYDRES, STOMP-HYD, and TOUGH + HYDRATE. Simulations utilized detailed information collected across the reservoir either obtained or determined from geophysical well logs, including thickness (11.3 m, 37 ft.), porosity (35%), hydrate saturation (65%), both mobile and immobile water saturations, intrinsic permeability (1000 mD), pore water salinity (5 ppt), and formation temperature (3.3–3.9 °C). This paper will present the approach and preliminary results of the history-matching efforts, including estimates of initial formation permeability and analyses of the various unique features exhibited by the MDT results.
Relationship between pumping-test and slug-test parameters: Scale effect or artifact?
In most field investigations, information about hydraulic conductivity (K) is obtained through pumping or slug tests. A considerable body of data has been amassed that indicates that the K estimate from a pumping test is, on average, considerably larger than the estimate obtained from a series of slug tests in the same formation. Although these data could be interpreted as indicating a natural underlying scale dependence in K, an alternate explanation is that the slug-test K is artificially low as a result of incomplete well development and, to a much lesser extent, failure to account for vertical anisotropy. Incomplete well development will often result in only the most permeable zones being cleared of drilling debris, with much of the screened interval remaining undeveloped. More cursory development can leave a low-K skin along the entire screened interval. Failure to recognize such conditions can result in a K estimate from a slug test that is much lower than the average K of the formation in the vicinity of the well. By contrast, neither a skin nor vertical anisotropy will have a significant impact on K estimates from pumping tests when semi-log analyses and/or observation wells are used. However, a reasonable estimate of aquifer thickness is required to convert the transmissivity calculated from a pumping test into an average K for the aquifer. Prior to invoking a natural scale dependence to explain the results of different types of hydraulic tests, head data should be closely examined and serious consideration given to alternate explanations.
Tolerance of freshwater test organisms to formulated sediments for use as control materials in whole-sediment toxicity tests
A method is described for preparing formulated sediments for use intoxicity testing. Ingredients used to prepare formulated sediments included commercially available silt, clay, sand, humic acid, dolomite, and α-cellulose (as a source of organic carbon). α-Cellulose was selected as the source of organic carbon because it is commercially available, consistent from batch to batch, and low in contaminant concentrations. The tolerance of freshwater test organisms to formulated sediments for use as control materials in whole-sediment toxicity testing was evaluated. Sediment exposures were conducted for 10 d with the amphipod Hyalella azteca , the midges Chironomus riparius and C. tentans , and the oligochaete Lumbriculus variegatus and for 28 d with H. azteca . Responses of organisms in formulated sediments was compared with a field-collected control sediment that has routinely been used to determine test acceptability. Tolerance of organisms to formulated sediments was evaluated by determining responses to varying levels of α-cellulose, to varying levels of grain size, to evaluation of different food types, or to evaluation of different sources of overlying water. In the 10-d exposures, survival of organisms exposed to the formulated sediments routinely met or exceeded the responses of test organisms exposed to the control sediment and routinely met test acceptability criteria required in standard methods. Growth of amphipods and oligochaetes in 10-d exposures with formulated sediment was often less than growth of organisms in the field-collected control sediment. Additional research is needed, using the method employed to prepare formulated sediment, to determine if conditioning formulated sediments before starting 10-d tests would improve the growth of amphipods. In the 28-d exposures, survival of H. azteca was low when reconstituted water was used as the source of overlying water. However, when well water was used as the source of overlying water in 28-d exposures, consistent responses of amphipods were observed in both formulated and control sediments.
Hydrogeology and results of injection tests at waste-injection test sites in Pinellas County, Florida
Potential benefits or hazards to freshwater resources could result from subsurface injection of treated wastewater. Recognizing this, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with Pinellas County and the city of St. Petersburg, undertook an evaluation of the hydrogeology and injection of wastewater at proposed test sites on the Pinellas peninsula. The injection sites are underlain by sedimentary rocks ranging in age from Cretaceous to Pleistocene. Lower Eocene carbonate rocks were penetrated to a maximum depth of 3,504 feet and were found to have relatively low water yields. The most permeable part of the investigated section was in rocks of middle Eocene age within the Floridan aquifer. At the injection sites, the Floridan aquifer was subdivided into four permeable zones and three semiconfining beds. The test injection zone is within the Avon Park Limestone, the most productive of the identified permeable zones, with a transmissivity of about 1,000,000 feet squared per day. Two semiconfining beds are above the injection zone in the Suwannee Limestone and Ocala Limestone and have vertical hydraulic conductivities estimated to range from about 0.1 to 1 foot per day where these beds do not contain clay. Limited fresh ground-water supplies exist in the Floridan aquifer within the Pinellas peninsula. At all test sites, chloride concentration in the injection zone ranged from 19,000 to 20,000 milligrams per liter. Injection tests ranging in duration from 3 to 91.1 days were run at three different sites. Pressure buildup occurred in permeable zones above and below the injection zone during these tests. Calculated pressure buildup in observation wells close to and at some distance from the test wells was typically less than 1 pound per square inch. Injection and formation water will probably move slowly through the semiconfining bed overlying the injection zone, and long-term injection tests will be needed to determine the effectiveness of these beds to retard flow. The injected water was well mixed with the native formation water, which, in part, is a direct consequence of the fractures in the injection zone.
Washing and coking tests of coal and cupola tests of coke, conducted by the United States fuel-testing plant at St. Louis, Missouri, January 1, 1905, to June 30, 1907
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Hydrology of waste disposal, National Reactor Testing Station, Idaho, with special reference to the Idaho Chemical Processing Plant area and the Materials Testing Reactor--Engineering Test Reactor area
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Availability of petrographic thin-section slides from Naval Petroleum Reserve No.4: Simpson Test Well No.1; South Barrow Test Well No.3; Topagoruk Test Well No.1
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Availability of petrographic thin-section slides from Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4, Supplement No. 1: South Barrow Test Well No. 2, South Barrow Test Well No. 4, Avak Test Well No. 1
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Test wells, Square Lake and Wolf Creek areas, Alaska, with micropaleontology of Square Lake test well 1 and the Wolf Creek test wells, northern Alaska
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Ground water test well A, Nevada test site, Nye County, Nevada : a summary of lithologic data, aquifer tests, and construction
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