Nanoscale Studies of Confined and Interfacial Compressed Fluids
Fluid-solid interactions control the properties of geo- fluids, including: water, alkanes, carbon dioxide, etc. To better understand fluid migration through porous rock formations and fluid reservoir processes, a nanoscale quantitative understanding of fluid-mineral interactions is needed, which can be obtained from combined excess sorption and neutron scattering experiments. The adsorbed phase model, developed by our group, calcu- lates mean density and volume of the sorption phase of fluids in narrow pores, quantities of interest for theoret- ical analysis, and computer modeling that have been inaccessible hitherto.
Currently, our confined fluids research includes the study of carbon dioxide interactions with cap- and reser- voir rocks for geologic carbon storage applications. We are also interested in hydrocarbon – mineral interac- tions with respect to tight shale gas production and enhanced oil recovery processes.
Precise automated fluid delivery to the neutron pres- sure sample cells is key for effective use of precious instrument time at neutron scattering facilities.
