No abstract

Two of the most important resources in agriculture are soil and water. The quality of the soil determines the health and output of crops. Biochar has been recognized as being a useful soil amendment due to its perceived benefits of increasing water and nutrient retention. However, limited research has been conducted to compare the characteristics of biochar created from different feedstocks to determine which are the most effective at raising water holding capacity. This study compared the water holding capacity and chemical composition of biochar created from two different materials: eastern hemlock and switchblade grass. Results showed that both the hemlock char and switchblade grass char were able to significantly raise the water holding capacity of loamy sand. The switchblade grass increased the water holding capacity more than the hemlock biochar. For example, at a mixture rate of 10% biochar by weight, switchblade grass increased loamy sand's water holding capacity by 228%, compared with 133% for hemlock. The water holding capacity of the switchblade grass biochar alone was 448.69% of its weight and the hemlock biochar held 268.34% of its weight. These results suggest that switchblade grass may be better suited for improving water retention in sandy soils.

One of the petroleum industry's goals is to reduce the environmental impact during oil and gas drilling operations. To achieve this, a number of environmentally friendly drilling (EFD) technologies have been developed to varying degrees but few have been integrated into a field demonstrable drilling system compatible with ecologically sensitive areas. This paper proposes a technology evaluation method based on systems analysis that can be used for integrating current and new EFD technologies into an optimal EFD system. An optimisation scheme is suggested based on a combination of multi-attribute utility theory and exhaustively enumerating all possible technology combinations to provide a quantitative rationale and suggest the best set of systems for a given site. An application of the proposed approach is described by conducting a case study in Green Lake at McFaddin, TX. The main purpose of this case study is to test the proposed technology evaluation protocol in a real site and then to refine the protocol. This paper describes the results of the case study, which provided a more logical and comprehensive approach that maximised the economic and environmental goals of both the landowner and the oil company.

Bridge scour monitoring using fixed instrumentation is a good way for the owner to be warned of imminent failure and to take appropriate action before exposing the public to undue risk. This paper demonstrates two cases of bridge scour monitoring systems developed for two bridges in Texas. The lessons learned from the two systems lead the authors to the conclusion that Tethered Buried Switches for early warning and tilt sensors for warning system should be preferred. Acceleration and frequency-based behavior tracked by motion sensors show promise but could only be demonstrated in laboratory experiments, with insufficient field data.

One of the petroleum industry's goals is to reduce the environmental impact of oil and gas operations in environmentally sensitive areas. To achieve this, a number of Environmentally Friendly Drilling (EFD) technologies have been developed to varying degrees. For example, the use of an elevated platform as an alternative to the gravel pad is less intrusive and leads to a more environmentally friendly approach to drilling operations. Elevated drilling platforms will require the use of piles. Another alternative to the gravel pad is the use of composite mats. Since the demand of low impact technologies for drill site construction has rapidly increased, the parametric study for the feasibility of using pile foundations and composite mats is conducted in this research.Even though a number of EFD technologies have already been developed to varying degrees, few have been integrated into a field demonstrable drilling system (i.e., combination of technologies) compatible with ecologically sensitive areas. In general, it is difficult to select the best combination of EFD technologies for a given site because there are many possible combinations and many different evaluation criteria. The proposed technology evaluation method is based on a systems analysis that can be used for integrating current and new EFD technologies into an optimal EFD system. An optimization scheme is suggested based on a combination of multi-attribute utility theory and exhaustively enumerating all possible technology combinations to provide a quantitative rationale and suggest the best set of systems according to a set of criteria, with the relative importance of the different criteria defined by the decision-maker. In iv this research, the sensitivity of the optimal solution to the weight factors and the effects of the uncertainty of input scores are also discussed using a case study.An application of the proposed approach is described by conducting a case study in Green Lake at McFaddin, TX. The main purpose of this case study is to test the proposed technology evaluation protocol in a real site and then to refine the protocol.This research describes the results of the case study which provided a more logical and comprehensive approach that maximized the economic and environmental goals of both the landowner and the oil company leaseholder.