Abstract: A vehicle or shipping-container monitoring system is provided. The system is used to sample the interior environment of the container and if needed, clear a potentially hazardous material from the interior of the container prior to conventional opening. The system includes a monitoring assembly affixed to a first through-penetration in the vehicle container, an evacuation assembly affixed to a second through-penetration in the vehicle container, and an intake penetration with a cap affixed to a third through-penetration in the vehicle container. A method is also provided to assess the interior of a vehicle or shipping container for hazardous gases or vapors prior to opening the container.

Abstract: Designing a drillstring in for use in a wellbore, such as a deviated or horizontal wellbore, particularly with application to extended reach wellbores. Method comprises determining the downhole weight-on-bit transmitted by a drillstring by determining a baseline tension profile and baseline torque profile in a drill string rotating off-bottom, and then using such profiles in conjunction with a selected surface weight-on-bit slack-off value to calculate a drillstring tension profile and rotating torque profile with the bit on bottom and having weight applied thereto. The method includes buckling limit checks and rig operational limit checks to determine if sufficient torque and DWOB can be transmitted through the drillstring, and to determine whether the drill string remains operable even though portions thereof may be in a buckled condition.

Abstract: A transportable and modular field-deployable hydrolysis system for neutralizing toxic chemical agents is described. The system comprises a transportable chemical process plant that is capable of operating in a remote location without significant site infrastructure. The system is also capable of operating in a maritime, shipboard environment. A flexible design allows processing of chemical agents in both batch and continuous flow modes, as well as collection and accumulation of agents from a variety of containers whose form and size may not be known until the system is on-site.

Abstract: Methods and systems for detecting downhole bit dysfunction in a drill bit penetrating a subterranean formation comprising receiving a plurality of drilling parameters characterizing a wellbore drilling operation and calculating bit aggressiveness (?) at each of a plurality of points during drilling, wherein each point corresponds to time, depth, or both. A depth-of-cut (DOC), time derivative of bit aggressiveness ({dot over (?)}), calculated as d?/dt, or both, is calculated at each of the plurality of points. A two-dimensional data representation of the plurality of points, comprising ? in one dimension and DOC, {dot over (?)}, or both, in another dimension is created. Data features are extracted from the two-dimensional data representation and downhole bit dysfunction is identified by comparing the extracted data features with predefined criteria.

Abstract: Designing a drillstring in for use in a wellbore, such as a deviated or horizontal wellbore, particularly with application to extended reach wellbores. Method comprises determining the downhole weight-on-bit transmitted by a drillstring by determining a baseline tension profile and baseline torque profile in a drill string rotating off-bottom, and then using such profiles in conjunction with a selected surface weight-on-bit slack-off value to calculate a drillstring tension profile and rotating torque profile with the bit on bottom and having weight applied thereto. The method includes buckling limit checks and rig operational limit checks to determine if sufficient torque and DWOB can be transmitted through the drillstring, and to determine whether the drill string remains operable even though portions thereof may be in a buckled condition.