Nanoparticle Engineering Staff
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Steven L. Bryant, Program Manager steven_bryant@mail.utexas.edu Dr Bryant's research interests include the application of nanoparticles for sensing and for low-cost improved oil recovery methods; mechanisms for the formation of methane hydrates in sediments; the application of level set methods to quantify multiphase flow at the pore-scale; the transport and retention of colloids and pathogens in soils and sedimentary rocks; explaining petrophysical properties and producibility of unconventional gas reservoirs in terms of geologic processes; several aspects of geologic storage of carbon dioxide, including storage capacity, storage efficiency, quantitative assessment of potential leakage of carbon dioxide and of brine, and novel storage schemes that eliminate the risk of leakage and reduce impact on groundwater. |
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Martin E. Chenevert mechenevert@mail.utexas.edu Research interests include: high-temperature/high-pressure properties of drilling fluids; wellbore stability in highly deviated wellbores. |
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Chun Huh chunhuh@mail.utexas.edu Prof. Huh's research interests include process modeling for various enhanced oil recovery processes, such as surfactant/microemulsion flooding, polymer flooding, miscible and near-miscible gas injection processes, use of foam to improve effectiveness of chemical and gas injection processes, and heavy oil recovery from unconsolidated sands. Having previously worked in a major oil industry research laboratory tackling various oil recovery problems, Prof. Huh's main focus has been improvement of the EOR model features that require modification from actual field application of those processes, and the adaptation of those improvements for reservoir simulators for improved field performance. |
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Kishore K. Mohanty mohanty@mail.utexas.edu Dr. Mohanty's research focuses on transport of simple and complex fluids in complex microstructured materials for applications in energy, environment and biotechnology. Many naturally occurring materials such as sandstones, carbonates, aquifers, human bones and tissues are microstructured. Many fluids used in these systems are nanostructured. This research is aimed at imaging these structures, understanding the physics of transport, relating the microstructures to transport coefficients and developing new materials for enhanced oil recovery, wettability alterarion, and targeted drug delivery. |
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Quoc P. Nguyen quoc_p_nguyen@mail.utexas.edu Dr. Quoc Nguyen's recent research has focused on the interface between colloids and the engineering of complex fluids, such as foam, nanoparticle dispersion, surfactant and polymeric solutions. He has developed a parallel program of modeling and experiments to investigate subsurface transport phenomena (including dynamics of complex fluids in porous media, reactive flow, and heat transfer), and develop methods for subsurface process optimum control. His research has applications in chemical enhanced oil recovery; conformance control technology; stimulated hydrocarbon production; thermal and chemical conversion of tar sand and oil shale; and modification of surface energy using soft and hard nanoparticles. In previous research in the downstream petroleum industry, he led several projects on oil refining (distillation and extraction) and petrochemical (cracking and reforming) processes. In the environmental area, Nguyen was involved in numerous industrial research projects on hazardous waste treatment and the development of clean production technologies. |
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Mukul M. Sharma msharma@mail.utexas.edu Professor Sharma has an active research and teaching program in various aspects of petroleum production engineering. His current primary areas of research are: hydraulic fracturing; sand control; wellbore stability; water Injection, EOR; and gas condensate reservoirs. His research projects include maximizing the productitivity of fractures in tight gas sands, growing injection well fractures in water injection wells, modeling fracture growth in poorly consolidated sands and condensate dropout and water blocks,. In the past he has worked on formation damage issues associated with fines migration, clay swelling, drilling induced damage (drill-in fluids), emulsions and inorganic scales. This research group consists of 19 graduate students and 3 full-time staff and has been supported both by industry and by the Department of Energy. Professor Sharma has taught production engineering related courses worldwide and is the past Chairman of the Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering Department. |