The Advanced Energy Consortium The Bureau of Economic Geology The University of Texas at Austin

 

         

AEC Publishes Science and Technology Strategy for Subsurface MicroSensing 2011–2015

In March 2011, a large-scale, 1-year collaboration concluded with publication of AEC’s Science and Technology Strategy for Subsurface MicroSens­ing 2011–2015. This document details comprehensive technical goals, timelines, and gaps for research portfolios on mobility, contrast agents, and nanomaterial and microfabricated sensors. Also included are (1) the definition of technology-readiness levels from TRL1 (basic research) through TRL 9 (system fully operational), (2) schedules for reaching these milestones for each portfolio, and (3) a recognition that the AEC is tasked with developing sensor systems capable of field-test demonstrations, which include the supporting infrastructure necessary to collect data. Whereas this strategy is an evergreen document to be updated on a regular basis, the first revision of the docu­ment represents a significant AEC milestone, and we encourage our members to review, comment, and help guide the future development of this document. If members desire additional copies, please contact Jay Kipper.

   
         

         

 

   AEC-funded research at Rice University published in Science Magazine

Rice University doctoral student, Nikta Fakhri (right), working with Professor Matteo Pasquali, recently published an article in Science on their AEC-funded research. Studying carbon nanotubes, Fakhri and her co-authors demonstrated that even a small ability to bend gives CNT and other tiny, stiff filaments the means to navigate through crowded environments like reservoir rocks and tight pore spaces. The team mimicked rock networks by using varying concentrations of agarose gel, a porous material often used as a filter in biochemistry and molecular biology for DNA and proteins. The gel forms a matrix of controllable size through which molecules can move. Nikta graduated and is now a postdoctoral researcher at University of Gottingen, Germany, but the research continues with Rice co-Principal Investigator Zachary Ball and postdoctoral students Shannon Eichmann and Brian Popp. Dr. Pasquali intends to replace the gel with real rocks to see how nanotubes, which can be used as oil-detecting sensors, move in a more structured environment. “Rocks can be a little more complicated,” he said. “The question here is: what can nanotubes do better than nanoparticles? The answer may be that slender nanotubes may interact with electromagnetic fields more strongly than other nanoparticles of the same volume.” The Science article can be viewed at:
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/330/6012/1804.abstract.

  
         


         
AEC Actively Seeking New Research Projects

This year, teams composed of member-company representatives and AEC employees have been visiting universities and research institutes around the world soliciting new research proposals. The consortium intentionally reserved several million dollars until this year to fund research that promises to add new sensing technologies to the current portfolio and to fill specific research gaps identified during strategic workshops in 2010. Starting in January, Axel Scherer and his team hosted an AEC visit at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. In early April, another group visited the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, stopping at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Duke University, NC State University, and the Research Triangle Institute. A third trip in April included Stanford University in Menlo Park, nearby NASA Ames Research Center, and Schlumberger's EMI Technology Center in Berkeley. In May the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at SUNY Albany hosted another team, followed by a site visit with Nikhil Koratkar and a general solicitation at nearby Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). In June a group is headed to Europe for a site visit to TNO in Eindhoven, NL, and then the University of Bergen in Norway. As a result, the consortium is reviewing a large number of new proposals, with several new research projects starting early this summer. If you have ideas for new subsurface sensors, please contact one of the AEC staff members.		    
         

         
  Nano-enabled Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Workshop, February 14, 2011

The AEC sponsored a 1-day workshop focusing on nano-enabled Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technologies in Austin on February 14th. The workshop included presentations from invited university and industry researchers on the challenges and opportunities of EOR. The objective of the workshop was to review the current state of science and engineering on EOR technology and to identify research needs and opportunities for AEC. The presentations laid out some of the issues related to EOR performance, shortcomings and strengths of existing technology, and future needs, as well as information on emerging nanotechnology research with potential application to EOR. Group discussion focused on different recovery mechanisms used by the industry to improve oil recovery, the target for improved recovery technologies, along with a few field case studies. Priscila Moczydlower gave an informative overview of EOR challenges that Petrobras is facing. Through the workshop presentations and discussions, attendees identified gaps and technical issues and challenges and opportunities for improving EOR performance and research priorities that can be used by the AEC for purposes of its future research plans. A copy of the workshop agenda, presentation, and summary note is available to members in the confidential forum.

  
         


         
AEC Conducts All Projects Review June 1–3, 2011

The AEC conducted its fourth biannual all projects review meeting June 1–3, 2011, at Schlumberger’s Doll Research Center (DRC) in Cambridge, MA. The consortium-funded research continues to mature, and a voluminous number of new and relevant data were presented; with all teams sharing results, test methodologies, particles, and design strategies, it is apparent that the pace of development is accelerating. More than 150 registered participants attended this meeting, including members of the Board of Managers (BoM), Technical Advisory Council (TAC), member-company mentors, collaborating principal investigators, and their students. For the first time the agenda included additional presentations from project Co-PIs, which provided additional depth and perspective. The 3 days were divided into the AEC’s four technology thrust areas, with project managers introducing their respective sections and reviewing the current research status.

The review was kicked off on Wednesday, June 1, with the Microfabricated Sensors portfolio; chemical level and pressure threshold sensing elements were reviewed in the morning, and power and communications-supporting technologies filled the afternoon. Tufts University hosted a reception and poster session to conclude Wednesday evening. Thursday was spent on the Mobility portfolio, with Carla Thomas leading research sessions covering mobility simulation, metrology, and coating synthesis from molecular, to pore, and, finally, to core scale. Thursday evening, the contrast-agent research community took advantage of being co-located at DRC to discuss the scope of their collective work to establish research priorities and to coordinate shared testing methods. Sean Murphy led the Friday morning reviews of magnetic, acoustic, and dielectric contrast agents. The meeting concluded on Friday afternoon with a review of the Nanomaterial Sensors projects led by Mohsen Ahmadian. Panel Q&A sessions followed each section, allowing both project managers and audience to ask questions of each group’s research teams. Presentation slides and video recordings of the talks are available in the members’ section of the AEC online forum. Once again, this biannual review provided members and researchers with an exciting and dynamic collaborative forum, sparking new ideas and directions for the consortium.