ENME Webcast Archives

LEADERS IN MECHANICAL ENGINEERING LECTURE SERIES - FALL 2007

Modeling Geologic Scale Multiphase Flow in Porous Media to Address Significant Challenges in Carbon Dioxide Sequestration and Enhanced Oil Recovery Processes

Lecturer: Amir Riaz - Stanford University

Original Air Date: Friday, September 21st at 11:00am

Abstract: Conventional energy resources are indispensable in fulfilling world energy needs for the next several decades and providing a smooth transition to a renewable energy future. Significant scientific and technological breakthroughs must be achieved to provide cleaner and economically viable forms of conventional energy sources. Carbon dioxide sequestration in geologic formations, enhanced recovery of heavy oils and geothermal energy, all promise to help achieve these goals. These processes are described as single and multiphase flow through porous media and are characterized by complex fluid transport mechanisms across a hierarchy of length and time scales. My talk will first focus on the current state of understanding related to viscous, capillary and gravitational instabilities that occur at fluid interfaces in porous media. I will then describe the modeling capabilities, both numerical and analytical, that I have developed to resolve unstable flows at the macroscopic scale. The microscopic aspect of multiphase flows in porous media will be explored to describe predictive capabilities and limitations of conventional models, as well as to motivate new approaches for modeling microscopic flow at the geologic scale. Finally, I will discuss possible methodologies for the correct scale-up of microscopic information with the help of stochastic models, for those parameter regimes where conventional models fail and no reliable source of information exists as yet.