Optimization of salinity and composition of injected low salinity water into sandstone reservoirs with minimum scale deposition

In this study, a mechanistic and comprehensive examination of the impact of the scale formation situation of different diluted seawater levels was conducted to investigate the influence of important factors on the performance and efficiency of low salinity water. To clarify the effective participating mechanisms, scale precipitation by compatibility test, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analysis, zeta potentials as surface charge, ion concentration changes, contact angle, pH, CO2 concentration, electrical conductivity, and ionic strength were analyzed. The results showed that increasing the dilution time to the optimal level (10 times-diluted seawater (SW#10D)) could effectively reduce the amount of severe precipitation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and calcium sulfate (CaSO4) scales. However, the reduction in CaCO3 scale precipitation (due to mixing different time diluted seawater with formation brine) and its effect on the wettability alteration (due to the change in surface charge of OLSW/oil and sandstone/OLSW) had higher impacts. The zeta potential results have shown that OLSW with optimum salinity, dilution, and ionic composition compared to different low salinity water compositions could change the surface charge of OLSW/oil/rock (- 16.7 mV) and OLSW/rock (- 10.5 mV) interfaces toward an extra negatively charged. FESEM and contact angle findings confirmed zeta potential results, i.e. OLSW was able to make sandstone surface more negative with diluting seawater and wettability changes from oil-wet toward water-wet. As a result, SW#10D was characterized by minimum scaling tendency and scale deposition (60 mg/l), maximum surface charge of OLSW/oil/rock (- 16.7 mV), and the potential of incremental oil recovery due to wettability alteration toward more water-wetness (the oil/rock contact angle ~ 50.13°) compared with other diluted seawater levels.

Towards sustainable community-based ecotourism: A qualitative content analysis

Community-based ecotourism (CBET) provides benefits to society members, especially concerning to the environment, by giving them the opportunity to influence and participate in the development of tourism. Lorestan province in the west of Iran is influenced by this phenomenon by having specific CBET opportunities in different economic, social, environmental and physical dimensions. The purpose of this study was to develop a sustainable community-based ecotourism (SCBET) model using the qualitative content analysis (with a deductive method in the form of the Hartmut model). The documents used included a systematic study of 45 international articles, 12 local articles, 2 books and in-depth interviews with 11 local experts. The results showed that the crystallization of CBET can be formed in the form of a four-component model (including planning, implementation, evaluation and situation analysis). In this model, four stages of the process of implementing community-based tourism (CBT) have been presented, in all of which the participation of researchers, ecotourists, policymakers and local people have been of great importance. Finally, the extracted categories for CBET sustainability were matched with the standards of the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) (including sustainable management, cultural sustainability, socio-economic sustainability and environmental sustainability) and the final SCBET model was presented. This model can be useful for policy makers for decision-making and planning in the SCBET field.

What drives farmers to use conservation agriculture? Application of mediated protection motivation theory

Conservation agriculture is an approach for managing agricultural ecosystems, improving productivity, increasing benefits and food security, and preserving resources and the environment. The core purpose of this study was to analyze the constructs affecting the intention to use conservation agriculture measures. For this purpose, protection motivation theory was applied as the theoretical framework. Validation of the model was done using a cross-sectional survey among Iranian farmers, and SMART PLS software was used to test the hypotheses. The results showed that the direct effects of the five constructs of perceived severity, perceived vulnerability, response cost, response efficacy, and self-efficacy were significant on the intention to use conservation agriculture measures. In addition, the variables of perceived severity, response cost, and perceived self-efficacy had significant effects on the fear of not using conservation agriculture measures. The results of the bootstrapping analysis indicated that the fear of not using conservation agriculture measures significantly mediated the effects of perceived severity, response cost, and self-efficacy on the intention to use conservation agriculture. The results of the present research help to develop protection motivation theory by defining new relationships between its variables and achieving a deeper understanding of these relationships. The results also can pave the way for social and psychological interventions in the field of adopting the principles of conservation agriculture in agricultural societies. Finally, the results of this research can be used as a decision-making tool and help for users and planners of behavioral changes to better identify the focus points and necessary strategies.

Application of social identity models of collective action to facilitate participation in groundwater aquifer storage and recovery management

Aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) is considered as an innovative method and an alternative one for sustainable management of water resources that has, in recent years, attracted the attention of experts and thinkers. Implementation of this method would entail the participation and collective action of various stakeholders. In this process, farmers are considered as the most important stakeholders; and limited studies have been conducted on their intentions to participate in collective actions of ASR management. In this regard, the investigation of farmers' intention to participate in ASR and its determinants, using social identity models of collective action, was selected as the main purpose of the present study. For this purpose, using a cross-sectional survey, 330 Iranian farmers were interviewed. In this study, the ability of the dual-pathway model of collective action (DPMCA) and the encapsulation model of social identity in collective action (EMSICA) was evaluated and compared to explain farmers' intentions towards participation in ASR management. The results revealed that the both models had good predictive powers. However, DPMCA was a stronger framework than EMSICA for facilitating farmers' collective behaviors in the field of participation in ASR management. This is one of the most important results of the present research that might be used by various users including decision makers, managers, and practitioners of water resources management in Iran and generally the world. Finally, the creation of a "we thinking system" or social identity in the field of ASR management was highlighted as one of the most important take-home messages.

Comprehensive experimental investigation of the effective parameters on stability of silica nanoparticles during low salinity water flooding with minimum scale deposition into sandstone reservoirs

Recent studies showed the high potential of nanofluids as an enhanced oil recovery (EOR) agent in oil reservoirs. This study aimed to investigate the effects of salts and ions, the salinity of aqueous solution, total dissolved solids (TDS), scale deposition of mixing brines, surface charge as zeta potential (ZP) value, and pH of injected brines as low salinity water (LSW) on the stability of silica nanoparticles (NPs). The experiments were conducted on the stability of silica NPs at different concentrations and brines to determine optimum salinity, dilution, cations, and anions concentrations. The results showed that 10 times diluted seawater (SW#10D) was optimum low salinity water (OLSW) as injected LSW and water-based nanofluids. Results showed that by decreasing the salinity, increasing seawater dilution, and removing Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺ cations, the amount of scale deposition decreased, and the brine's brine's brine stability of NPs in brine improved. At the optimum salinity and dilution conditions, compared with other salinities, there was less scale formation with more nanofluid stability. Obtained results from ZP measurements and dynamic light scattering (DLS) showed that by removing divalent ions (Mg²⁺ and Ca²⁺) of water-based nanofluid (low salinity hard water (LSHW) composition), more NPs were attached to the surface due to the reduction in repulsive forces between the NPs. Therefore, at optimum low salinity soft water (OLSSW), more wettability alteration occurred compared with optimum low salinity hard water (OLSHW) due to the more stability of NPs in OLSSW. The obtained results from the contact angle measurements, surface adsorption of the NPs by FESEM images, and ZP measurements showed that the predominant mechanism in enhancing oil recovery by nanofluid was the wettability alteration by disjoining pressure. According to wettability alteration results, the silica NPs with an optimized concentration in the optimized LSHW and LSSW compositions could be improved the wettability alteration by up to 23.37% and 55.81% compared with the without NPs. The optimized LSSW compared with LSHW composition could be improved the wettability alteration by up to 11.69%. In addition, OLSSW-based nanofluid compared with OLSHW could be increased wettability alteration toward strongly water-wet by up to 33.44%.

Tourism Development During the Pandemic of Coronavirus (COVID-19): Evidence From Iran

The coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic has created a great deal of fear and uncertainty about health, economy, and social life. Therefore, the health, social, and economic impacts of COVID-19 are of great importance. In prone rural communities, tourism industry can contribute to the sustainable economy and social development of the villagers, and as a dynamic economic sector, cause economic, social, cultural, and environmental changes. In this regard, the purpose of this inquiry was to develop tourism during the coronavirus pandemic using the social exchange theory (SET). The present study is a descriptive, correlational and causal inquiry that is conducted using survey technique. The statistical population included tourists visiting Sistan region around Hamoun Wetland in eastern Iran (N = 850). In the sampling process, 266 tourists were selected as a sample using random sampling strategy. The study instrument was a researcher-made questionnaire, whose validity was confirmed by a panel of subjectivists and its reliability was approved by a pilot study and Cronbach's alpha coefficients (0.87≥ α ≥ 0.71). Based on SET, the proposed causal model was able to explain about 56% ( R Adj 2 = 0.562) of the variance changes in tourism development during the COVID-19 epidemic.

The effects of farmers' place attachment and identity on water conservation moral norms and intention

Investment in the behavioral change projects would not be possible without knowing their prerequisites and determinants including intention, moral norms, identity, and place attachment. Therefore, this study aimed at the determination of the effects of place attachment (PAT) (place dependence (PDE), place identity (PID), and place affect (PAF)) and farmers' identity (conservationist identity (CONID) and productivist identity (PROID)) on the moral norms of water conservation (MNWC) as well as the intention of water conservation (IWC) of the Iranian farmers. This was a descriptive-correlational and causal-relational study. The instrument of the study was a questionnaire completed using a cross-sectional survey and face-to-face interviews. Hence, a stratified random sampling method along with a proportionate allocation was used to select 380 farmers. The research findings indicated that the PAT (PDE, PID, and PAF) and CONID had significant positive effects on the MNWC. In addition, MNWC and CONID had significant positive effects on the IWC. However, PROID had a significant negative effect on the MNWC and IWC. In general, it was found that independent variables (PDE, PID, PAF, PROID, and CONID) could predict 39% and 53% of the variance of the MNWC and IWC variables, respectively. Moreover, the social-psychological framework of the study provides practitioners, decision-makers, policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders of the agricultural water management with useful practical and theoretical insights about the practices of behavior changes and social interventions. Finally, it is recommended that government decision-makers should further focus on the increased attractiveness of the rural and agricultural areas to increase PAT, MNWC, and IWC.

Optimization and treatment of wastewater of crude oil desalting unit and prediction of scale formation

In this article, one of Iran's southwest oil fields that produces 3200 barrels per day (bbl/d) of wastewater from oil and gas processing was investigated. Experimental analysis of oil reservoir water and desalting wastewater disposal of crude oil desalting unit was performed. First, water was treated with a reverse osmosis membrane. As a result, the purified water, with lower total dissolved solids (TDS) and pH, was a suitable candidate for injection into the adjacent wells of the crude oil desalting unit. The effectiveness and compatibility of this wastewater to the formation water of the oil field wells were simulated. Finally, we studied and identified the formation, the amount, and the type of mineral scale deposits. These are the most important problems during water injection into the wells. The analysis shows that the refined water from the reverse osmosis (RO) process was a suitable and low-cost economical option for injection in onshore and offshore fields, due to the low amount of salts, the concentration of susceptible ions in scaling formation, and the appropriate pH. This oil field, which is in the second half of life, requires enhanced oil recovery methods (EOR) for the maintenance of pressure and an increase in oil recovery.