In many oil wells the natural energy associated with oil is not strong enough to cause flow into the production facilities. In such cases, some form of artificial lift should supplement natural energy.
Cleaning of oil and gas facilities and management of waste streams during decommissioning require a fundamental understanding of the stability and interactions of gels, foams, emulsions and sludge between them and other materials.
Chemical flooding is a promising method of EOR in both carbonate and sandstone reservoirs. It is widely accepted that presence of chemicals in rock pore space results in alteration of interfacial tension between brine and hydrocarbons and rock wettability alteration.
Dielectric elastomers are soft, muscle-like actuators that have seen a great uptake in robotics. The main reasons being the improved manoeuvrability and dexterity they provide.
Dr P Omenzetter, Dr P Dunning, Dr S Sriramula, Dr Amir Siddiq
Applications accepted all year round
Wind turbines are exposed to frequent structural damage increasing the cost of wind energy generation. To drive these costs down, this project will develop new automated methods for detection of structural damage to wind turbines by examining vibration responses measured by sensors attached to the structure.
Chemicals such as pharmaceuticals, fertilizers and reagents are ubiquitous in our modern society which are mainly produced from fossil fuels, e.g., petroleum and natural gas.
Environmental and industrial fluid mechanics problems often involve flows through porous obstacles. Examples of practical applications include flow through atmospheric and aquatic vegetation, offshore structures, buildings exposed to flooding and arrays of turbines in tidal channels.
