ABSTRACT
As the increasing pressure to carbon peak and carbon neutral has brought carbon capture and storage (CCS) to the forefront as an emission mitigation tool, greater attention is being paid to the potential for injecting dry boiler flue gas (DBFG) into oil reservoirs. With the aim to directly inject DBFG with steam into heavy oil reservoirs, this study presents the results of a laboratory investigation of the effect of DBFG on the properties and composition of heavy oil by viscosity measurement, pressure-volume-temperature measurement, high-temperature and high-pressure experiment, and high-resolution mass spectrometry analysis. The results of the experiments show that adding 0.5 wt % particulate matter has no obvious influence on the viscosity of heavy oil. DBFG dissolved in heavy oil can reduce viscosity, increase the flow capability, and make the heavy oil volume swell. Heavy oil is oxidized with DBFG at 140 °C, which is mainly caused by the O2 in the DBFG, and the oxidation product is alcohol. The findings of the beneficial effect of DBFG on viscosity and swelling factor and the negligible negative effect of the small amount of nitrogen oxides, sulfides, and particulate matter in DBFG are very encouraging. It is expected that DBFG can be directly injected into heavy oil, not only for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) but also for reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases and pollutants, as well as for saving costs.
ABSTRACT
The dramatic reorganization of chromatin during mitosis is perhaps one of the most fundamental of all cell processes. It remains unclear how epigenetic histone modifications, despite their crucial roles in regulating chromatin architectures, are dynamically coordinated with chromatin reorganization in controlling this process. We have developed and characterized biosensors with high sensitivity and specificity based on fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET). These biosensors were incorporated into nucleosomes to visualize histone H3 Lys-9 trimethylation (H3K9me3) and histone H3 Ser-10 phosphorylation (H3S10p) simultaneously in the same live cell. We observed an anticorrelated coupling in time between H3K9me3 and H3S10p in a single live cell during mitosis. A transient increase of H3S10p during mitosis is accompanied by a decrease of H3K9me3 that recovers before the restoration of H3S10p upon mitotic exit. We further showed that H3S10p is causatively critical for the decrease of H3K9me3 and the consequent reduction of heterochromatin structure, leading to the subsequent global chromatin reorganization and nuclear envelope dissolution as a cell enters mitosis. These results suggest a tight coupling of H3S10p and H3K9me3 dynamics in the regulation of heterochromatin dissolution before a global chromatin reorganization during mitosis.
