Laser Fusion Milestone Achieved

A major milestone was reached recently when scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California reported that they had demonstrated that laser pulses shot into a cavity can produce the conditions required to trigger nuclear fusion reactions. The finding was a crucial test of principle for Livermore's National Ignition Facility (NIF), the $3.5 billion complex now under construction and expected to start full operations in 2009.
When completed NIF will be, by far, the world’s largest and most energetic laser and a major international scientific resource. Designed to study the physics of matter at extreme densities, pressures, and temperatures, NIF will use 192 laser beams to compress fusion targets to conditions required for thermonuclear ignition and burn. In the process, more energy will be liberated than is used to initiate the fusion reactions.

New Stimulation Technology Improves Gas Production

Halliburton has added a breakthrough stimulation technology, GasPerm 1000(SM) service, which helps improve production from unconventional reservoirs including tight gas, shales and coalbed methane. Based on a newly developed microemulsion surfactant, the service helps remove water drawn into the formation during the fracturing process. Removing the water can improve permeability to gas at the fracture face and help increase gas production. In addition the service represents a safety and environmental advancement, replacing methanol in many applications.
In the fracturing process, water can be drawn (imbibed) into the formation from the fluid used to create the fracture. The water drawn into the pore spaces is held there by capillary pressure and surface tension and can block gases from flowing into the wellbore. Commonly called "water block," this process is especially pronounced in unconventional gas reservoirs where the lower permeability results in increased capillary pressure.
The service has been shown to enable the imbibed liquids to be expelled from the rock matrix and fracture system, thereby enabling improved gas production.