The PhD defence and trial lecture will be held in Auditorium 1 in The Geology Building. In some cases, it will be possible to attend the trial lecture and dissertation digitally, in that case a link to Zoom will be posted.
Trial lecture
Wednesday 5 March, 10:15-11:00, Aud 1, The Geology Building:
Fluid-solid reaction in porous rocks, insights from flow and transport physics
Conferral summary (in Norwegian)
Denne forskningen undersøker, ved hjelp av eksperimentelle avbildningsmetoder og numeriske simuleringer, hvordan væsker strømmer, blandes og fører til kjemiske reaksjoner i porøse bergarter. Funnene forbedrer vår grunnleggende forståelse av kjemisk blanding og mineralisering i systemer direkte relevant for karbonlagring og andre prosesser i berggrunnen.
Main research findings
Popular scientific article about Shafabakhsh’s dissertation:
Imaging and Numerical Modeling of Fluid Mixing in Rocks with Evolving Porosity
Understanding how fluids flow, mix, and react within porous rocks is essential for both natural geological processes, such as groundwater movement, and engineered applications like carbon storage in the subsurface. In his doctoral study Paiman Shafabakhsh have combined advanced imaging techniques and computer simulations to study fluid flow and chemical mixing in rocks from the pore to the core scale. The experiments showed how mixing-driven chemical reactions lead to the formation of calcium carbonate, a naturally occurring mineral, and how this process alters fluid flow pathways in sandstone and basalt rocks. Neutron imaging showed real-time changes in fluid distribution, while X-ray imaging distinguished minerals from pores in the rock.
A novel method was developed to calculate fluid flow velocity, revealing how precipitated minerals impact flow. On the computational side, simulations captured the mixing of fluids at the pore scale, where the flow can be chaotic resulting in sustained concentration gradients. These findings enhance our understanding of how fluids move and interact with rocks beneath the surface. This is knowledge which can open new possibilities for describing fluid mixing and reactive transport in complex geological systems.
Photo and other information:
Press photo: Paiman Shafabakhsh, portrait; 900px. Photo: Private
Other photo material: Figure with description and credit as specified in the article above, size 1500px.
