Events

Speaker:  Dr. Jennifer Druhan, Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Title of Seminar: “Linking chemical transformations to physical heterogeneity through coupled direct imaging and reactive transport”

Abstract: During CO2 injection into sedimentary basins, characteristic geochemical reactions alter the pore structure of the formation, and thus ultimately influence the mechanical integrity of the reservoir. These processes are coupled through the influence of reactivity on fluid transport properties such as the permeability of the medium. At the laboratory scale, we have demonstrated through novel imaging techniques that local heterogeneities result in low permeability zones, presenting a higher resistance to fluid phase pressure gradients.  Current work emphasizes the development of coupled experimental and modeling studies facilitating acquisition of 3D permeability maps in real time and quantification of mineral dissolution / precipitation processes which alter permeability during injection of CO2-rich brine using the Illinois Basin Mt. Simon formation sandstone.

Biography:  Jennifer is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.  She joined the faculty in 2015 after completing an NSF postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University.  She holds a Ph.D. from the University of California Berkeley Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and an M.S. from the University of Arizona Department of Hydrology and Water Resources.  Her research centers on the relationship between the physical heterogeneity and chemical reactivity of aquifers, and ways in which stable isotope ratios are sensitive to this relationship.