The objective of this research is to assist the recovery of non contacted oil from known reservoirs on the Outer Continental Shelf in the Gulf of Mexico. History matching and prediction runs have been completed on the B-35-K reservoir, history matching has been completed on the B-65-G reservoir and on Reservoir 3. Modifications to BOAST II and MASTER consisted of developing codes to handle steeply dipping oil reservoirs and a radial grid format for near wellbore studies. Modifications for steeply dipping reservoirs have been successfully implemented and tested against commercial simulators in the PC version of BOAST II, renamed BOAST III. At present, modifications to BOAST II for radial grid systems are producing acceptable results in a 2-D model. A paper was presented at the 1994 ACM Symposium on Applied Computing in Phoenix, Arizona, March 6--8, 1994 on these results. Modifications have also been successfully implemented in the MASTER simulator. It is presently undergoing industry testing for validity. Laboratory investigations continued but were slowed by several unforeseen incidences involving broken apparatus and inability to receive parts due to the California earthquake. Predictive models for undeveloped oil and immiscible/miscible processes began. The methodology for determination of undeveloped potential has been completed. …

Fully dense, nanocrystalline ceramic articles were prepared by the new nanofabrication process developed in this research program. The process consists of two steps: synthesis of ceramic nanoparticles and fabrication of dense, nanocrystalline ceramic parts. The synthesis step produced 10-nanometer-diameter crystallites and is capable of being scaled up to kilogam/hour production rates. The fabrication step produced dense articles at significantly reduced sintering temperatures and times-representing a factor of 10-100 reduction in process energy requirements. The process was demonstrated by producing ultrafine-gained yttria-doped ZrO{sub 2}, an important material with a variety of energy-related applications (e.g., solid electrolytes, oxygen sensors, electrode materials, thermal barrier coatings, etc.); BaTiO{sub 3} (for capacitor applications); and YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 7-x}(a high-temperature superconductor with uses, e.g., in magnetic flux trapping and high-speed capacitor applications). Results from this reporting period (September 1993--May 1994) clearly illustrate the capabilities of this energy-efficient and directly commercializable process for producing dense, nanocrystalline, multicomponent oxide ceramics.

The Josephson coupling between a conventional and an unconventional superconductor is investigated as a function of the properties of the tunneling barrier. A simple model is adopted for the tunneling probability and it is shown that its variation dramatically affects the I{sub c}R{sub n} product of an s-d, as opposed to an s-s junction. Based on these conclusions, experiments are proposed to probe the symmetry of the order parameter in high temperature superconductors.

The thermal decomposition of methane shows significant potential as a process for the production of higher unsaturated and aromatic hydrocarbons when the extent of the reaction is limited. Preliminary experiments have shown that cooling the product and reacting gases as the reaction proceeds can significantly reduce or eliminate the formation of solid carbon and heavier (C{sub 10}+) materials. Much work remains in optimizing the quenching process and this is one of the goals of this program. We will also study means to lower the temperature of the reaction as this will result in a more feasible commercial process due to savings realized in energy and material of construction costs. The use of free-radical generators and catalysts will be investigated as a means of lowering the reaction temperature thus allowing faster quenching. It is highly likely that such studies will lead to a successful direct methane to higher hydrocarbon process.