The Grand Opening of PoreLab

PoreLab’s first international workshop was held in Oslo from 6th to 8th September 2017, at the historical Soria Moria hotel. Lectures in various disciplines of porous media was given by national and international invited speakers, followed by poster sessions.

The PoreLab kick off workshop was led by Professor and Center vice Director, Knut Måløy, and opened by the Director Professor Alex Hansen.

PoreLab Kick-off meeting program

The PoreLab team and co-workers. Photo: Marie-Laure Olivier

High ambitions

The vision for PoreLab is ambitious and high risk. It addresses fundamental scientific questions in a field which, historically, have been dedicated to specific applications. The center focuses on the physics of porous media using experimental, theoretical and computational methods. It is led by scientists from physics, chemistry and reservoir engineering.

The PoreLab team is now seeking to bring the field to a new general level, creating possibilities to solve new applications, and to anchor the foundation of PoreLab nationally and internationally by assembling the best scientists in the field.

The Center Director, Professor Alex Hansen welcome address

“Here is how I see it: after ten years, I need to be able to look 250 average taxpayers in the eyes and tell them “What we did was worth every penny you have paid in taxes for the last ten years.”  My aim is to be able to look them in the eyes with pride.”
– Center Director Alex Hansen.

Building the platform for years to come
The workshop presented the foremost scientific circles from academia and industry with an opportunity to meet, and develop research interests. Lectures in various disciplines of porous media were given by national and international invited speakers, followed by poster sessions.

The goal is to build the platform for years to come and lay the foundation for the assignment: to advance the understanding of flow in porous media.

The PoreLab kick off workshop was led by the Center vice Director, Professor Knut Måløy, and was opened by the Center Director, Professor Alex Hansen.

The presentations:

Alex Hansen, Center Director, welcome address (pdf)

Porous media, statistical physics and thermodynamics

Steady states in porous flows

Porous structures and flow in rocks and soil

Imaging and flow characterization

  • Geir Helgesen (IFE) Electrokinetic response of porous media (pdf)
  • Pål-Eric Øren (Petricore DRS) Multiscale digital rock analysis
  • Ståle Fjeldstad (Thermo Fischer Scientific) Thermo Fisher Scientfic Digital Rock Products and R&D
  • Dag Dysthe (UiO) Microfluidic Lab.
  • Dag Werner Breiby (NTNU) Quantitative 3D imaging of porous materials

Patterns in porous media

  • Bjørnar Sandnes (Swansea Univ.) Patterns of the gas-liquid-grain interface
  • Joachim Mathiesen (NBI, Copenhagen) Permeability fluctuations in two-phase porous flow
  • Santucci Stéphane (ENS Lyon) Foam flow in model fracture
  • Dani Or (ETH Zurich) Pore scale view of fluid displacement fronts in porous media

Complex surface effects

Industrial challenges

You can see pictures from the workshop here.