Faculty

Hamdi Tchelepi 

Department Chair & Professor, Energy Science & Engineering

Hamdi works on modeling and simulation of fluid flow, transport, and fluid-structure interactions in natural and artificial porous media. Ongoing research activities include: (1) simulation of unstable fluid flow in heterogeneous porous media, (2) multiscale algorithms for coupled mechanics and fluid flow in subsurface formations, (3) stochastic methods for the quantification of the uncertainty associated with predictions of fluid-structure dynamics in heterogeneous porous media, and (4) simulation-based design of the next-generation of Lithium-ion batteries. The application areas include reservoir simulation, subsurface CO2 sequestration, subsurface storage and retrieval of hydrogen, and multiscale simulation of Lithium-ion batteries.

Louis Durlofsky

Otto N. Miller Professor in Earth Sciences, Energy Science & Engineering

Louis Durlofsky co-directs the Stanford Center for Carbon Storage and the Stanford Smart Fields Consortium research programs. His work mainly entails numerical modeling, history matching/data assimilation, and optimizing subsurface flow processes, including those involving coupled flow and geomechanics. A focus of his group’s effort is the extension and application of computational methodologies developed for oil/gas production to geological carbon storage (and eventually hydrogen storage) operations. Optimization and history matching for these problems require large numbers of flow simulations, and this has motivated an extensive effort on the development of deep learning/machine learning surrogate models. These models are based on a range of methods including recurrent R-U-nets, graph neural networks, deep reinforcement learning, and data-space inversion.

Khalid Aziz 

Otto N. Miller Professor in the School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences, Professor Emeritus

The overall goal of Dr. Aziz's research is the development of robust and reliable models for predicting performance of hydrocarbon reservoirs (including shale oil and gas) and CO2 sequestration operations. Over the years he has been involved with the development of four different industrial consortia dealing with different aspects of this problem. The first was on reservoir simulation (SUPRI-B), the second on data integration (SCRF), the third on advanced wells (SUPRI-HW), and the most recent one on Smart Fields (SFC). Underlying his research is the desire to understand mechanisms involved during the flow of complex mixtures in porous rocks and in pipes, and efficient modeling of these processes on computers. While he is no longer directly involved with SCERF and we have merged SUPRI-HW with other programs, he co-directs the other two consortia. All are highly successful and have led to a number of developments and innovations that have found important applications in industry.