Aqueous Nanobubble Dispersion for Geologic Carbon Sequestration and Enhanced Oil Recovery
May 14, 2024, Noon Central
CSEE Webinar
Join via Teams Live Event
Abstract:
Many gaseous species, such as CO2, H2, N2, and light hydrocarbons, exhibit low solubility in water, resulting in small equilibrium concentrations in aqueous fluids (water or brine) across diverse conditions. Leveraging these immiscible gaseous species within aqueous fluids as nanobubble (NB) dispersions presents notable advantages for multiple industries. The current applications of aqueous NB dispersion include agriculture, wastewater treatment, mineral processing, and pharmaceuticals. However, these applications predominantly operate under low-pressure conditions. This webinar explores the transformative potential of high-pressure applications for aqueous NB fluids.
We showcase how aqueous NB fluids can accommodate larger quantities of gaseous species under elevated pressures, unlocking impactful opportunities in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) for both conventional and unconventional oil reservoirs, as well as in CO2 sequestration. Notably, in CO2 sequestration, aqueous NB fluids offer a promising avenue for managing the eventual mineralization of injected CO2 in reactive rocks such as basalt. Additionally, we introduce our experimental and modeling capabilities tailored to the study of high-pressure applications of aqueous NB fluids. This research is part of the Energi Simulation Industrial Affiliate Program on Carbon Utilization and Storage, accessible at https://www.ryosukeokuno.com/es-carbonut.
Bio:
Ryosuke Okuno is an associate professor in the Hildebrand Department of Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. He currently leads the Energi Simulation Industrial Affiliate Program on Carbon Utilization and Storage (ES Carbon UT) at the Center for Subsurface Energy and the Environment. Okuno has seven years of industrial experience as a reservoir engineer and is a registered Professional Engineer in Alberta, Canada. His research and teaching interests include carbon capture/utilization/storage, enhanced oil recovery, unconventional oil and gas resources, hydrogen energy, thermodynamics, multiphase behavior, numerical flow simulation, and applied mathematics. Okuno is a recipient of the 2012 SPE Petroleum Engineering Junior Faculty Research Initiation Award, the 2019 SPE Regional Reservoir Description and Dynamics Award (Southwestern Region), and the 2022 UT PGE Teaching Award.
