Flow assurance challenges, mainly of hydrates and wax depositions, are amongst the key issues that must be resolved and mitigated to ensure that hydrocarbons can be efficiently and economically transported from well to processing facilities. As wells step further away from shore into deeper water, the flow assurance challenges are increasing tremendously due to prevalence of higher pressure and lower temperature conditions. Thus, the development of cutting edge technologies to cater for the ever increasing demand in exploring the hostile and technologically challenging deepwater fields is a matter of great urgency. One of the effective solutions to prevent the formation of wax or hydrates is to use active heating methods. This paper describes an overview of the available active heating methods and mechanisms which are being implemented as thermal management systems for flowline in deepwater fields. It also discusses the thermal performance calculation models available to aid the design and modelling of such systems. Some comparative studies are carried out to determine the advantages and disadvantages of each of the methods to establish a general reference source on the technology that provides the most significant economic impact without compromising the reliability and efficiency of the overall system. Active heating systems have been used in several projects in the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico and Offshore West Africa. This paper also summarizes these projects and their operating experience from open literature. In general, due to their operational flexibility and high efficiency through control of the pipeline temperature above the hydrate formation and wax deposition temperatures, active heating seems to be the most practical, economical and viable solutions in managing flow assurance issues; especially for the development of deepwater fields.

Lithium is a vital raw material used for a wide range of applications, such as the fabrication of glass, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, and batteries for electric cars. The accelerating electrification transition and the global commitment to decarbonization have caused an increasing demand for lithium. The current supply derived from brines and hard rock ores is not enough to meet the global demand unless alternate resources and efficient techniques to recover this valuable metal are implemented. In the past few decades, several approaches have been studied to extract lithium from aqueous resources. Among those studied, chemical precipitation is considered the most efficient technology for the extraction of metals from wastewater. This paper outlines the current technology, its challenges, and its environmental impacts. Moreover, it reviews alternative approaches to recover lithium via chemical precipitation, and systematically studies the effects of different operating conditions on the lithium precipitation rate. In addition, the biggest challenges of the most recent studies are discussed, along with implications for future innovation.

There has been significant magnitude of problems of diabetes in Myanmar, according to the estimates of International Diabetes Federation (IDF) and the recent National Survey on the prevalence of diabetes. There has been a wide gap of equity between the urban and rural healthcare delivery for diabetes. Myanmar Diabetes Care Model (MMDCM) aims to deliver equitable diabetes care throughout the country, to stem the tide of rising burden of diabetes and also to facilitate to achieve the targets of the Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs (2013NCDs ( -2020. It is aimed to deliver standard of care for diabetes through the health system strengthening at all level. MMDCM was developed based on the available health system, resources and the country's need. Implementation for the model was also discussed.

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Sand control application in gas wells is very challenging, especially in the application of a standalone sand screen (SAS) due to the high erosional risks. Many failures have been observed in the industry over the years causing production deferments and additional OPEX to the operators for remedial sand control operations. This work presents the performance evaluation of a unique SAS in open hole completion concept piloted in a horizontal gas well and the replication in other new wells in a Malaysian gas field. In 2012, a pilot gas well was completed with SAS with optimally placed flow segmentizers along the horizontal completion to limit the screen erosional risks. The placement was determined using a tool developed through an R&D. It estimates the optimum locations of the flow segmentizers based on the targeted SAS life or erosional velocity limit imposed. At the heart of it is a proprietary erosion model specifically developed for SAS application. The well performance was compared to adjacent wells producing from the same reservoir but completed using the conventional open-hole gravel pack. The pilot well achieved higher Productivity Index in comparison to the adjacent wells. Over the 10-year observation period, the production performance was consistent with minimal skin values and no sand production issues. Multifinger Imaging Tool (MIT) was run to measure the erosion levels in the tubing and the result indicated very minimal erosion because of sand production even after several years of production. Recently, another one (1) new infill well was drilled and completed with the same concept as the pilot well. The segmentizer placements were supported by an optimization study based on the expected production scenario. Positive flow back results with no indication of sand production was detected from the intrusive sand monitoring equipment. With the application of SAS and flow segmentizers, a cost reduction of 25% as compared to more complex application of open-hole gravel pack was realized.