Polymer flooding has become globally established as a potential enhanced oil recovery method for heavy oils. To determine whether this technology may be useful in developing the substantial heavy oil resources on the Alaska North Slope, a polymer flood field pilot commenced at the Milne Point Unit in August 2018. This study seeks to evaluate the results of the field pilot on a technical and economic basis. A reservoir simulation model is constructed and calibrated to predict the oil recovery performance of the pilot through machine-assisted reservoir simulation techniques. To replicate the early water breakthrough observed during waterflooding, transmissibility contrasts are introduced into the simulation model, forcing viscous fingering effects. In the ensuing polymer flood, these transmissibility contrasts are reduced to replicate the restoration of injection conformance during polymer flooding. Transmissibility contrasts are later reinstated to replicate fracture overextension interpreted in one of the producing wells. The calibrated simulation models produced at each stage of the history matching process are used to forecast oil recovery. These forecasts are used as input for economic analysis, incremental to waterflooding expectations. The simulation forecasts indicate that polymer flooding significantly increases the heavy oil production for this field pilot compared to waterflooding alone, yielding attractive project economics. However, meaningful variations between simulation scenarios demonstrate that a simulation model is only valid for prediction if flow behavior in the reservoir remains consistent with that observed during the history matched period. Critically, this means that a simulation model calibrated for waterflooding may not fully capture the technical and economic benefits of an enhanced oil recovery process such as polymer flooding. Subsequently, the simulation model and economic model are used in conjunction to conduct a sensitivity analysis for polymer flood design parameters, from which recommendations are provided for both the continued operation of the current field pilot and future polymer flood designs. The results demonstrate that a higher polymer concentration can be injected due to the development of fractures in the reservoir. The throughput rate should remain high without exceeding operating constraints. A calculated point-forward polymer utilization parameter demonstrates the decreasing efficiency of the polymer flood at later times in the pattern life. Future projects will benefit from starting polymer injection earlier in the pattern life. A pattern with tighter horizontal well spacing will observe a greater incremental benefit from polymer flooding.

The effects of turbulence on power generation from a Current Energy Converter (CEC) are not fully understood. This thesis investigates the correlation between a vertical axis CEC's power output and the water velocity in the frequency and time domains. Chapter 2 shows the correlation between velocity and electrical power in frequency space. This correlation gives insight into the size of eddies that influence the CEC's power output. The results of this correlation analysis show that eddies of diameter around 0.8m have a noticeable impact on the power generation. Calculating the observed average integral length scale, the range of eddy diameters around the CEC are 0.52m-5.8m. Since 0.8m is in this observed range it suggests that the turbulence may influence the CEC's power output. Chapter 3 analyzes the relationship between the turbulence velocity cubed and electrical power through the correlation of the two data sets. The correlation was carried out by first separating out the four velocity components derived from cubing the sum of the turbulence and average velocities. The commonly used ratio of the turbulence kinetic energy to total kinetic energy does not include these cross terms nor are these cross terms typically included in the calculation of power derived from the turbulence velocity. The turbulence velocity cubed has a correlation of -0.007 with the CEC power output indicating that the turbulence has a small, negative impact on the CEC power output.

There has been an abundance of new and novel aircraft designs created for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) in recent years. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) contributes to the research and development of this industry in part by applying its aircraft design tools to create conceptual designs of UAM reference vehicles. The vehicles are intended to quantify the tradeoffs and performance capabilities necessary for VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) aircraft in the UAM design space. The reference vehicles represent a variety of configurations that seek to encompass many of the design characteristics suitable for UAM. This thesis focuses on the conceptual design process of two new NASA reference vehicles. Both aircraft are configured as conventional tiltrotors, but one is powered by turboshaft engines, and one is fully electric. The sizing and performance of the two aircraft are discussed, as well as how the performance and characteristics compare to a selection of other NASA reference vehicles. It is found that the tiltrotor configuration is capable of reaching speeds 43% to 51% faster than the other turboshaft designs, and 63% to 106% faster than the other electric designs. The increased speed leads to a 24% to 42% decrease in overall mission time. With this speed increase comes moderate tradeoffs in areas including weight and installed power.

Carbon dioxide flooding in viscous oil systems has been proven to improve oil recovery and store CO₂ in several geologic basins worldwide. With global energy steadily transitioning towards decarbonization, CO₂-EOR and Sequestration can reduce the carbon footprint from crude oil production. Although well accepted globally, the potential of improved oil recovery and CO₂ storage capacity has not been extensively studied in Alaska. Since the CO₂ injection process involves phase transition, reservoir simulation becomes more complex. It requires reliable techniques to estimate the ultimate recovery factor, oil production rate, and CO₂ storage volumes precisely. This study focuses on carbon dioxide enhanced oil recovery (CO₂-EOR) and storage in the Orion satellite field of Alaska, its ability to reduce greenhouse gases, and the technical and economic feasibility of a CO₂ flooding project. In this study, the Peng-Robinson equation of state is tuned to model fluid behavior from the respective sands accurately. Core flooding results from the Orion Oil Pool in the Schrader Bluff Formation provided the basis for developing relative permeability curves for the various layers in the geological model. The geological model was then coupled with the developed fluid model and introduced into a compositional simulator capable of handling the heterogeneous complexity to simulate CO₂ injection. Simulations suggested that the CO₂ gas injection is partially miscible in the Orion reservoir at pressures close to the average initial reservoir pressure. Consequently, CO₂ mixes with oil in the reservoir, reduces oil viscosity, increases oil mobility, and improves oil recovery. Different simulation scenarios were considered and compared, including the effects of fluid injection mixtures on oil recovery, well trajectory effects, and production bottom hole pressure effects on oil recovery. A considerable volume of injected CO₂ is expected to be sequestered in the reservoir, for which economic analysis is conducted for tax credit purposes. The results show that 40% Enriched CO₂ injection achieved the highest oil recovery, which highlights the importance of selecting the appropriate injector and producer well trajectory. This work provides insights into the optimum CO₂ gas flooding controlling parameters for incremental oil production through sensitivity analysis. The study's novelty is further expanded by quantifying the potential of CO₂ sequestration in each layer of the Orion oil field.

"Previous studies on the Barrow Gas Fields (BGF) in Alaska have suggested that accumulations of natural gas hydrates could exist within these reservoirs. In consideration of future energy challenges, and the potential of gas hydrates in meeting them, a comprehensive engineering study was undertaken to investigate the BGF for hydrates, and to recommend an optimal plan for future field development. The methane hydrate resource potential of the BGF, viz. the East Barrow (EB), South Barrow (SB), and Walakpa (WAL) gas pools, was analyzed by developing gas hydrate stability models. Material balance studies were performed on the EB gas field to understand the reservoir drive mechanisms. Gas-water relative permeability experiments were conducted on a hydrate-saturated consolidated core sample, by maintaining the EB reservoir conditions, to model two-phase fluid flow behavior. Finally, field-scale dynamic reservoir simulation models were developed for the EB and WAL gas fields. Production history data were matched, reservoir drive mechanisms were confirmed, free gas and hydrate resources were quantified, hydrate dissociation patterns were examined, optimum locations for drilling infill wells were identified, and future production scenarios were simulated. Findings from this work indicate that BGF are associated with hydrates that are constantly recharging the gas reservoir by dissociation"--Leaf iii

"Two-phase gas-liquid flow occurs in vertical pipes during the production of reservoir fluids. The two most common flow patterns that are observed during oil production are the Bubble and Slug flows. Determination of pressure drop in two-phase flow is more complicated than single-phase flow because two fluids with different densities flow in the tubing at different velocities. Using two multiphase correlations (Hagedorn and Brown, and Duns and Ros), the effect of fluid properties variation at different flow conditions on pressure drop were studied. Fluid data developed with correlations and West Sak fluid data were used for the analysis. Plots showing the relationship between pressure drop and different fluid properties were made. From the analysis, it was concluded that oil density, oil viscosity and oil flow rate are the three factors that influence pressure drop in vertical pipes the most. The Hagedorn and Brown correlation was shown to be able to compute pressure drop for high-viscosity oil"--Leaf iii

"Nanofluids are a class of fluids comprised of a base fluid with nanoparticles in a colloidal suspension. These fluids have been shown to exhibit substantially higher thermal conductivity than their corresponding base fluids. Investigation is required to determine if this property may be exploited for the purpose of improving the performance of systems employing liquid heat transfer. Detailed analyses of CuO/60% ethylene glycol and Al₂O₃/60% ethylene glycol nanofluids' heat transfer properties were conducted to determine if they provide a net benefit in commercial facility heating systems. The analyses employed previously developed correlations for nanofluid thermophysical, fluid dynamic and heat transfer properties. Computational models were also developed to characterize the performance of hydronic finned tube heaters and air heating coils with nanofluids, and to compare the nanofluids' performance with that of their base fluids. Several aspects of heat transfer performance were analyzed including heating output, frictional pressure loss, and associated pumping power. These data are analyzed to determine if the selected nanofluids can improve heating output, reduce required liquid pumping power or reduce the size of heating equipment. The analyses predict that the nanofluids examined exhibit superior heat transfer performance to that of the base fluids under certain conditions"--Leaf iii

"Properties and flow pattern of injected water have an impact on properties like rock wettability and oil saturation. Researchers have observed increased oil recovery with low salinity brines and reduced water production with cyclic injection. Low salinity cyclic water injection is an interesting combination to be evaluated for further implementation. Two-phase water-oil flow experiments were conducted on cleaned and oil-aged sandstone cores in a core holder apparatus. At connate water saturation, modified Amott-Harvey tests were performed to study wettability. Cyclic waterfloods were conducted to recover oil. Residual oil saturation (Sor) was calculated after every step. The experiments were repeated with reconstituted brines of different salinity and Alaska North Slope (ANS) lake water. The effect of low salinity waterfloods and oil-aging on wettability alteration was studied. The results were compared with available data from conventional floods performed on the same cores. Cyclic floods were also tested for different pulse intervals. Conventional waterflooding was conducted on recombined oil-saturated cores at reservoir conditions. Faster reduction in Sor and additional oil recovery was observed consistently with low salinity cyclic injection. Oil-aging reduced water wetness of cores. Subsequent low salinity floods restored the water wetness marginally. Shorter pulses yielded better results than longer intervals"--Leaf iii

"The persistence of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) was studied in soils from two sub-arctic regions of Alaska. Study sites were established in Delta Junction, where the climate is cold and dry, and Valdez, a more temperate and humid climate. Soil samples were collected from three depth ranges (0-7.6 cm, 10-30 cm, and 36-60 cm) for roughly 360 days following the application of 2,4-D iso-octyl ester at both study sites. 2,4-D was extracted from the soil samples and analyzed using a gas chromatograph and mass selection detector (GC/MSD). Both study sites saw vertical movement of the herbicide, with 2,4-D concentrations detected to a depth of 60 cm in the soil column. The half-life calculated for the Delta Junction site during the growing season was comparable to those observed in studies conducted in temperate climates. However, 2,4-D exhibited longer persistence times at both study sites than the persistence observed in studies conducted in temperate climates, with 2,4-D concentrations present in surface soils one year after application"--Leaf iii

"The high cost of energy in remote off-grid villages of Alaska is a major concern for Alaska. The primary cause is due the relatively high cost of fuel transportation to the remote villages. A hybrid technology of wind power combined with diesel power is one option for reducing costs. The wind-diesel hybrid technology has already been implemented successfully in some remote villages; however this technology is not yet mature and presents many site-specific considerations. This thesis presents a techno-economic feasibility analysis for three villages currently considering implementing wind-diesel technology. The analysis was principally performed using HOMER, an energy modeling software tool. HOMER was used to perform an optimization and sensitivity analysis of wind-diesel hybrid systems for Buckland, Deering and Noorvik villages in Alaska. HOMER uses the hourly wind speed and electric load data from the villages, and performs an energy balance analysis to optimize the equipments sizes and system design based on the minimum life cycle cost. Based on input specifications used, the results obtained indicate that a high-penetration system is optimum for Noorvik, a medium or low-penetration system is optimum for Derring, and none of the wind-diesel systems investigated here would reduce the cost of energy in Buckland"--Leaf iii