ANPERC: A 21st Century Approach to Energy
Research--Flow Engineering
Access to
energy is fundamental to the world’s societies. Improving quality of life
requires the reliable supply and wise use of energy. Hydrocarbons will remain
the main global source of energy for decades to come; however, new scientific
understanding and disruptive engineering solutions are required for more
effective reservoir access and increased recovery, with reduced environmental
impacts.
Subsurface fluids - including hydrocarbons - move
along preferential flow paths, or “geo-plumbing.” These flow paths are in turn
fed with fluids slowly flowing out of the multiscale (microns to meters in
size) regions of lower permeability rock. Fractures, joints and faults can short-circuit fluid flow across scales
from microns to kilometers, throwing a monkey wrench into all existing flow
theories and numerical models. As
reservoir energy and easily accessible rock regions are depleted, only
weakly-connected, low-permeability and heterogeneous rock remains.
Continuing
hydrocarbon production at the high rates required by global society demands fundamental and applied research
that addresses flow - the flow of liquids, gases and dissolved chemical compounds
through multiscale, fractured reservoirs with mixed rock wettability. The subtleties of such flow can only be
captured by experiment and theories that illuminate the coupled thermo-,
hydro-, chemo-, and mechanical (THCM) effects in fluid flow and fluid/rock
interactions. Given this context, ANPERC’s
raison d’etre - flow - translates into a unique multidisciplinary, collaborative
learning and research effort, enabled by the unique set of research skills and
infrastructure of KAUST.
Research Themes
