Alan Burnham | Stanford University (original) (raw)

Papers by Alan Burnham

Thermochimica Acta, May 1, 2021

Abstract Thermal decomposition of TATB (1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene) and its formulation... more Abstract Thermal decomposition of TATB (1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene) and its formulation LX-17 is studied at pressures from 0.1 to 7 MPa for both isothermal heating at 340 K and ramped heating at 1 to 6 K min-1. Conditions that eliminate self-heating are thoroughly explored to avoid experimental artifacts. The increase in pressure accelerates the rate of decomposition by only about 10%, but it substantially increases the enthalpy of the reaction, presumably because of longer volatile product residence times in the heated zone. The narrowness of the decomposition profile and the acceleratory phase during isothermal pyrolysis are consistent with a multistep autocatalytic mechanism, and the lack of a significant pressure effect suggests that the autocatalytic species have low volatility.

Journal of Non-crystalline Solids, Feb 1, 2003

Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, Mar 31, 2016

Several regions of the world have abundant oil shale resources, but accessing this energy supply ... more Several regions of the world have abundant oil shale resources, but accessing this energy supply poses a number of challenges. One particular difficulty is the thermomechanical behavior of the material. When heated to sufficient temperatures, thermal conversion of kerogen to oil, gas, and other products takes place. This alteration of microstructure leads to a complex geomechanical response. In this work, we develop a thermoplasticity model for oil shale. The model is based on critical state plasticity, a framework often used for modeling clays and soft rocks. The model described here allows for both hardening due to mechanical deformation and softening due to thermal processes. In particular, the preconsolidation pressure—defining the onset of plastic volumetric compaction—is controlled by a state variable representing the kerogen content of the material. As kerogen is converted to other phases, the material weakens and plastic compaction begins. We calibrate and compare the proposed model to a suite of high-temperature uniaxial and triaxial experiments on core samples from a pilot in situ processing operation in the Green River Formation. We also describe avenues for future work to improve understanding and prediction of the geomechanical behavior of oil shale operations.

Proceedings, 2017

Understanding degree and timing of thermal maturation is critical for the evaluation of petroleum... more Understanding degree and timing of thermal maturation is critical for the evaluation of petroleum systems on hydrocarbon prospectivity. However, basin thermal history is one of the key uncertainties. Vitrinite reflectance is one of the most common measurements used to evaluate thermal maturity. We tested and calibrated different published and new vitrinite reflectance models to assess the impact on timing of maturity and hydrocarbon generation. We compared Easy%Ro, its update Easy%RoDL, and Basin%Ro using 1D basin and petroleum system modelling on several wells from the Alaska North Slope. In this study area, Basin%Ro and Easy%RoDL show significant improvements for calibration against vitrinite reflectance profiles that show the characteristic dogleg structure with different rates of increasing maturity. Based on these results, we recommend consideration of several vitrinite reflectance models for thermal calibration and their impact on degree and timing of maturity and the assignment of thermal boundary conditions. In particular, this is important for evaluation of timing of hydrocarbon generation and expulsion related to trap formation. It is not yet certain whether there is a universal algorithm for vitrinite reflectance maturation in humic kerogen and, if not, the relationship between depositional conditions and variations in the algorithm is unknown.

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 2021

Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2020

Organic Geochemistry, 2019

Marine and Petroleum Geology, 2018

Laser-Induced Damage in Optical Materials: 2002 and 7th International Workshop on Laser Beam and Optics Characterization, 2003

Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, Sep 1, 1988

Energy & Fuels, Jun 11, 2021

Thermal explosions result when local temperature-dependent heat generation exceeds heat loss via ... more Thermal explosions result when local temperature-dependent heat generation exceeds heat loss via conduction. The temperature dependence of the heat source term is directly related to the material’s chemical kinetics, and hence the chemical kinetics has a direct impact on the thermal explosion times of a material. Much success has been gained in past work to accurately model thermal explosions in various explosives using multi-step Arrhenius chemical kinetics models. However, the generation of these kinetics models is time consuming and complex. Therefore, a methodology has been developed that allows for calibration of a single-reaction global kinetics model using One Dimensional Time to Explosion (ODTX) experimental data, which combines an iterative approach with a steepest descents optimization. This methodology has been applied to calibrate kinetic parameters for the widely-used explosives RDX (1, 3, 5-trinitrohexahydro-striazine), HMX (octahydro-1, 3, 5, 7-tetranitro-1, 3, 5, 7-tetrazocine), LX-10 (95% HMX, 5% Viton binder), and PBXN-109 (64% RDX, 20% Al, 16% binders). The average error between experimental and simulated ODTX and STEX data using this technique is approximately equivalent to that using the traditional multi-step models, and the time required for calibration of the global kinetics model has been reduced from months to hours.

Fuel, Aug 1, 1982

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