Petroleum geological framework and hydrocarbon potential in the Yellow Sea

Sedimentary basins in the Yellow Sea can be grouped tectonically into the North Yellow Sea Basin (NYSB), the northern basin of the South Yellow Sea (SYSNB) and the southern basin of the South Yellow Sea (SYSSB). The NYSB is connected to Anju Basin to the east. The SYSSB extends to Subei Basin to the west. The acoustic basement of basins in the North Yellow Sea and South Yellow Sea is disparate, having different stratigraphic evolution and oil accumulation features, even though they have been under the same stress regime since the Late Triassic. The acoustic basement of the NYSB features China-Korea Platform crystalline rocks, whereas those in the SYSNB and SYSSB are of the Paleozoic Yangtze Platform sedimentary layers or metamorphic rocks. Since the Late Mesozoic terrestrial strata in the eastern of the NYSB (West Korea Bay Basin) were discovered having industrial hydrocarbon accumulation, the oil potential in the Mesozoic strata in the west depression of the basin could be promising, although the petroleum exploration in the South Yellow Sea has made no break-through yet. New deep reflection data and several drilling wells have indicated the source rock of the Mesozoic in the basins of South Yellow Sea, and the Paleozoic platform marine facies in the SYSSB and Central Rise could be the other hosts of oil or natural gas. The Mesozoic hydrocarbon could be found in the Mesozoic of the foredeep basin in the SYSNB that bears potential hydrocarbon in thick Cretaceous strata, and so does the SYSSB where the same petroleum system exists to that of oil-bearing Subei Basin.

Accumulation of petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals in clams (Ruditapes philippinarum) in Jiaozhou Bay, China

Accumulation and distributions of aliphatic and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and heavy metals were measured in tissues of the clam Ruditapes philippinarum collected from 5 sites in Jiaozhou Bay, Qingdao, China. The concentrations of total aliphatic hydrocarbon and PAHs ranged from 570 to 2 574 ng/gdw (gram dry weight) and from 276 to 939 ng/gdw, in the most and least polluted sites, respectively. The bio-accumulation of hydrocarbons and PAHs in the clams appeared to be selective. Aliphatic hydrocarbons were predominantly represented by short chain (< nC(23)) n-alkanes, suggesting that petroleum hydrocarbons were likely the major contamination source. The selective uptake of 3 and 4 ring PAHs, such as naphthalene, fluorene, phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene, by the clams was probably related to the physiological and bio-kinetic processes that were energetically favorable for uptake of compounds with fewer rings. Accumulation of the metals Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb, Cr, Hg, and As in the clam tissues also showed high variability, ranging from 0.043 to 87 A mu g/gdw. Among the 7 detected metals, Zn, Cd, Cu, and As had a particularly high potential of accumulation in R. philippinarum. In general, a positive correlation was found between the tissue concentrations and sediment concentrations of hydrocarbons and of some metals. Our study suggests that moderate contamination with polyaromatic hydrocarbons, and low to moderate contamination with metals, currently exists for clam R. philippinarum in Jiaozhou Bay, in comparison with other regional studies. A long-term monitoring program is certainly needed for assessment of the potential ecological influence and toxicity of these contaminants of R. philippinarum in Jiaozhou Bay.

Prediction of marine sediment corrosion by fuzzy clustering analysis

Along with the development of marine industries, especially marine petroleum exploitation, more and more pipelines are buried in the marine sediment. It is necessary and useful to know the corrosion environment and corrosiveness of marine sediment. In this paper, field corrosion environmental factors were investigated in Liaodong Bay marine sediment containing sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and corrosion rate of steel in the partly sediment specimens were determined by the transplanting burying method. Based on the data, the fuzzy clustering analysis (FCA) was applied to evaluate and predict the corrosiveness of marine sediment. On that basis, the influence factors of corrosion damage were discussed.

Research and development of catalytic processes for petroleum and natural gas conversions in the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics

The Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has a long history in the R&D of catalysts and catalytic processes for petroleum and natural gas conversions in China. In this paper, results and features of some commercialized petrochemical catalysts and processes as well as newly developed processes for natural gas conversion in the pilot-plant stage are described. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.