Advisor: Abraham D Stroock, 260 Olin Hall, abe.stroock@cornell.edu
Contact: Erik Huber erikjhuber@gmail.com
As atmospheric CO2 concentration continues to rise, carbon sequestration has been proposed to offset emissions. Sequestration involves storing CO2 within the earth subsurface. We have been developing injection techniques to analyze the time scales governing fluid motion and mass transfer of these systems. Our findings have motivated us to continue this research and explore new methods for mixing subsurface fluids. Some of the challenges of this research include modeling heterogeneity of the rocks, deriving appropriate governing equations to model the fluid mechanics, as well as understanding the mass transfer properties between CO2 and water within these rock formations.
The goal of the proposed project is to perform theoretical and numerical analyses of various injection conditions aimed at promoting subsurface mixing. From these models we would like to understand and quantify the mass transfer rates as well as the transient evolution of the CO2.
Requirements: Ability to commit 3 credit hours (at least 12 hours/week) for both semesters. Interest in fluid mechanics and transport phenomena. Some background in Matlab programming or computational fluid dynamic (CFD)