Fluid Flow Modelling for Future Energy Solutions

Modelling gas and fluid flow in porous media is central to the development of future energy technologies involving subsurface geological structures including: (i) predicting and optimizing production from unconventional petroleum reservoirs; (ii) improving methods for enhanced oil recovery; (iii) assessment of radioactive waste disposal and CO2 storage sites; and (iv) development of novel energy storage systems (e.g. subsurface storage of hot water or compressed air).  The School of Earth and Environment’s (SEE) research in this area has also has generated considerable income, particularly from industry but also research councils (more than £9 million in the last five years). These projects, along with infrastructure funding and a successful Royal Society Wolfson Laboratory Refurbishment Grant, have allowed SEE to develop world-leading laboratory facilities for conducting experiments on multiphase flow in porous media (www.see.leeds.ac.uk\wolfson).

The key aims of this fellowship will be to increase impact, by using the results to create practical solutions for industry (e.g. rapid prediction of subsurface flow properties based on easy to obtain microstructural data).  Your research will feed directly into current and future Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses, which fill recognized skills gaps and have high rates of employability.  You will be expected to increase research income from industry (in areas such as enhanced oil recovery and unconventional gas production), research councils (EPSRC & NERC), and the EU (Horizon 2020).  You will co-supervise PhD students that regularly apply to work in this area and you will develop a research profile that will contribute to the University’s ambition to excel at REF2020, with a sustained record of internationally excellent (and some world-leading) publications by providing the theoretical/modelling framework to the results from the large number of experimental research projects being conducted on flow in porous media particularly for the petroleum industry.

With mentorship from Professor Quentin Fisher, you will be encouraged to achieve your goals by building on existing cross-campus collaborations.

With a PhD in Petroleum Engineering, Computational Fluid Dynamics or related subject, you will have a strong research record in fluid flow modelling at the pore-scale, the ability to teach at both Undergraduate and Postgraduate level, as well as a clear and compelling vision for personal academic development.

University Grade 8 (£38,511 to £45,954)

For informal enquiries about the role please contact Professor Quentin Fisher, tel: +44 (0)774 214 5119, email: Q.J.Fisher@leeds.ac.uk.

Ref: ENVEE1006

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