Recommended Practice for Experimental Evaluation of the Seepage Sensitivity Damage of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs

The coalbed methane (CBM) extraction industry (an unconventional energy source) has not established guidelines for experimental evaluation of sensitivity damage for coal samples. The existing experimental process of previous researches mainly followed the industry standard for conventional oil and gas reservoirs (CIS). However, the existing evaluation method ignores certain critical differences between CBM reservoirs and conventional reservoirs, which could inevitably result in an inaccurate evaluation of sensitivity damage and, eventually, poor decisions regarding the formulation of formation damage prevention measures. In this study, we propose improved experimental guidelines for evaluating seepage sensitivity damage of CBM reservoirs by leveraging on the shortcomings of the existing methods. The proposed method was established via a theoretical analysis of the main drawbacks of the existing methods and validated through comparative experiments. The results show that the proposed evaluation technique provided reliable experimental results that can better reflect actual reservoir conditions and correctly guide the future development of CBM reservoirs. This study is pioneering the research on the optimization of experimental parameters for efficient exploration and development of CBM reservoirs.

Bi-linear Complementarity Problem

In this paper, we propose a new linear complementarity problem named as bi-linear complementarity problem (BLCP) and the method for solving BLCP. In addition, the algorithm for error estimation of BLCP is also given. Numerical experiments show that the algorithm is efficient.

Discrete Wavelet Transform Decomposition Level Determination Exploiting Sparseness Measurement

Discrete wavelet transform (DWT) has been widely adopted in biomedical signal processing for denoising, compression and so on. Choosing a suitable decomposition level (DL) in DWT is of paramount importance to its performance. In this paper, we propose to exploit sparseness of the transformed signals to determine the appropriate DL. Simulation results have shown that the sparseness of transformed signals after DWT increases with the increasing DLs. Additional Monte-Carlo simulation results have verified the effectiveness of sparseness measure in determining the DL.

Existence and Stability Analysis of Discrete-time Fuzzy BAM Neural Networks with Delays and Impulses

In this paper, the discrete-time fuzzy BAM neural network with delays and impulses is studied. Sufficient conditions are obtained for the existence and global stability of a unique equilibrium of this class of fuzzy BAM neural networks with Lipschitzian activation functions without assuming their boundedness, monotonicity or differentiability and subjected to impulsive state displacements at fixed instants of time. Some numerical examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the obtained results.

One-DOF Precision Position Control using the Combined Piezo-VCM Actuator

This paper presents the control performance of a high-precision positioning device using the hybrid actuator composed of a piezoelectric (PZT) actuator and a voice-coil motor (VCM). The combined piezo-VCM actuator features two main characteristics: a large operation range due to long stroke of the VCM, and high precision and heavy load positioning ability due to PZT impact force. A one-degree-of-freedom (DOF) experimental setup was configured to examine the fundamental characteristics, and the control performance was effectively demonstrated by using a switching controller. In rough positioning state, an integral variable structure controller (IVSC) was used for the VCM to conduct long range of operation; in precision positioning state, an impact force controller (IFC) for the PZT actuator coupled with presliding states of the sliding table was used to obtain high-precision position control and achieve both forward and backward actuations. The experimental results showed that the sliding table having a mass of 881g and with a preload of 10 N was successfully positioned within the positioning accuracy of 10 nm in both forward and backward position controls.

An Algebra for Protein Structure Data

This paper presents an algebraic approach to optimize queries in domain-specific database management system for protein structure data. The approach involves the introduction of several protein structure specific algebraic operators to query the complex data stored in an object-oriented database system. The Protein Algebra provides an extensible set of high-level Genomic Data Types and Protein Data Types along with a comprehensive collection of appropriate genomic and protein functions. The paper also presents a query translator that converts high-level query specifications in algebra into low-level query specifications in Protein-QL, a query language designed to query protein structure data. The query transformation process uses a Protein Ontology that serves the purpose of a dictionary.