Joint Mechanical Engineering (MNE) and Engineering Applied Science (EAS) Seminar, 4/1/16
When: Friday,
April 1, 2016
2:00 PM
-
3:00 PM
Where: Textiles Building 105
Description: Joint Mechanical Engineering (MNE) and Engineering Applied Science (EAS) Seminar
Friday, April 1st 2016
2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
LOCATION:
Textile Building, Room 105A
SPEAKER:
Dr. Amir Taghavy, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at UMass Dartmouth
TOPIC:
Nanoparticles: Fate and Transport in the Subsurface
ABSTRACT:
With an estimated global market value exceeding US$25 billion per annum and use in a wide variety of industrial processes and household products, nano-scale materials have also found application in subsurface engineering problems. Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) can serve as environmental agents for subsurface remediation (e.g., zero-valent-iron NPs), or on the contrary, can pose a threat to the environment (e.g., silver NPs). Extensive research is also in progress on the utility of nanoparticles in a range of petroleum engineering applications, such as acoustic and electromagnetic imaging/mapping techniques (contrast agents), nano-sensor technologies, enhanced oil recovery, and so on. Understanding the reactive transport characteristics of NPs in natural soils and rock systems is essential to having an effective design of the engineering and/or remedial schemes, or revealing their potential impact on the terrestrial ecosystems and groundwater quality.
This presentation briefly describes, (i) the underlying processes that govern the retention and transport of NPs in porous media, (ii) the numerical methods used to simulate these processes, (iii) a few modeling examples, based on core-scale observations, of NP interactions with solid phase collector surfaces, co-existing dissolved compounds and other NPs, and (iv) the implementation of core-scale experimental data on the mobility of silica NPs (nSiO2) and the generation/coalescence of nSiO2-stabilized CO2-in-brine foams to make field-scale predictions of foam viscosification-induced enhancement of macroscopic sweep efficiency near the injection wells.
SHORT BIO:
Amir Taghavy joined Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in September 2015. A civil engineer by training and an environmental hydrogeologist, Amir received his PhD in the Environmental Water Resources Engineering from Tufts University (Medford, MA) in 2013 where he built his research profile as a modeler in the field of flow and reactive transport in porous media, with focus on the fate and transport of nanoparticles in aquatic-terrestrial systems. His next appointment was at the Center for Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin where as a postdoctoral research fellow, his research centered on the upscaling of nanotechnology-based solutions for subsurface engineering problems including the enhanced oil recovery and CO2 flood conformance.
For more information please contact Dr. Mehdi Raessi, MNE Seminar Coordinator (mraessi@umassd.edu, 508-999-8496)
Light refreshments will be served.
All are welcome!
First year MNE students are REQUIRED to attend!
All other MNE students are encouraged to attend (especially Juniors and Seniors).
EAS students are encouraged to attend.
Thank you,
Sue Cunha, Administrative Assistant for MNE
508-999-8492
scunha@umassd.edu
Friday, April 1st 2016
2:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m.
LOCATION:
Textile Building, Room 105A
SPEAKER:
Dr. Amir Taghavy, Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at UMass Dartmouth
TOPIC:
Nanoparticles: Fate and Transport in the Subsurface
ABSTRACT:
With an estimated global market value exceeding US$25 billion per annum and use in a wide variety of industrial processes and household products, nano-scale materials have also found application in subsurface engineering problems. Engineered nanoparticles (NPs) can serve as environmental agents for subsurface remediation (e.g., zero-valent-iron NPs), or on the contrary, can pose a threat to the environment (e.g., silver NPs). Extensive research is also in progress on the utility of nanoparticles in a range of petroleum engineering applications, such as acoustic and electromagnetic imaging/mapping techniques (contrast agents), nano-sensor technologies, enhanced oil recovery, and so on. Understanding the reactive transport characteristics of NPs in natural soils and rock systems is essential to having an effective design of the engineering and/or remedial schemes, or revealing their potential impact on the terrestrial ecosystems and groundwater quality.
This presentation briefly describes, (i) the underlying processes that govern the retention and transport of NPs in porous media, (ii) the numerical methods used to simulate these processes, (iii) a few modeling examples, based on core-scale observations, of NP interactions with solid phase collector surfaces, co-existing dissolved compounds and other NPs, and (iv) the implementation of core-scale experimental data on the mobility of silica NPs (nSiO2) and the generation/coalescence of nSiO2-stabilized CO2-in-brine foams to make field-scale predictions of foam viscosification-induced enhancement of macroscopic sweep efficiency near the injection wells.
SHORT BIO:
Amir Taghavy joined Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in September 2015. A civil engineer by training and an environmental hydrogeologist, Amir received his PhD in the Environmental Water Resources Engineering from Tufts University (Medford, MA) in 2013 where he built his research profile as a modeler in the field of flow and reactive transport in porous media, with focus on the fate and transport of nanoparticles in aquatic-terrestrial systems. His next appointment was at the Center for Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin where as a postdoctoral research fellow, his research centered on the upscaling of nanotechnology-based solutions for subsurface engineering problems including the enhanced oil recovery and CO2 flood conformance.
For more information please contact Dr. Mehdi Raessi, MNE Seminar Coordinator (mraessi@umassd.edu, 508-999-8496)
Light refreshments will be served.
All are welcome!
First year MNE students are REQUIRED to attend!
All other MNE students are encouraged to attend (especially Juniors and Seniors).
EAS students are encouraged to attend.
Thank you,
Sue Cunha, Administrative Assistant for MNE
508-999-8492
scunha@umassd.edu
Topical Areas: Faculty, Students, University Community, Civil and Environmental Engineering, College of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering