Event
ChBE Seminar Series: Abbas Firoozabadi
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
IPST Conference Room (1116)
Professor Jeffery Klauda
jbklauda@umd.edu
Special Seminar
Molecular Dancing, Molecular Structure, and Nano-particles in Hydrocarbon Energy Production
Abbas Firoozabadi
Adjunct Professor
Dept. of Chemical and Environmental Engineering
RERI and Yale University
Molecular motions and molecular structures of different species in petroleum fluids and brines may have drastic effect on oil and gas production. Change of molecular structures by small amounts of surfactants can have profound effect on aggregation of molecules both in the bulk and at the interface.
In this presentation I will discuss some of our recent work from laboratory testing and molecular simulations. The applications relates to natural gas hydrates (in both oil capture in the seabed and in flow lines), asphaltenes (flow assurance and viscosity reduction), shale gas, and emulsion formation in oil and water. The focus will be on oil and gas recovery and flow assurance. The presentation is intended to motivate research on molecular and nano-scale and the vast opportunities in efficient production of hydrocarbons and the environmental stewardship of hydrocarbon energy production.