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Researchers

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Seyed Ali Ghoreishian Amiri

Researcher, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

Publications in CRISTin

E-mail: mailto:seyed.amiri@ntnu.no

Marcel Moura

Researcher, Department of Physics

University of Oslo (UiO)

Personal webpage

Publications

E-mail: marcel.moura@fys.uio.no

Per Arne Rikvold joined PoreLab at The University of Oslo as a Researcher in 2018, after serving as Professor of Physics at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida, since 1987. He received his B.Sc. (Cand. Mag.) and M.Sc. (Cand. Real.) in Physics from the University of Oslo. Subsequently, he spent two years as a Japanese Government research student at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan. After further stays at the University of Oslo, University of Geneva in Switzerland, and Kernforschungsanlage Jülich in Germany, he received his Ph.D. in Physics from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1983. Before joining the faculty of Florida State University, he did a postdoc in Mechanical Engineering at State University of New York at Stony Brook and worked as a Senior Research Chemist with ARCO Chemical Company in suburban Philadelphia. While at Florida State University, he served several periods a Visiting Professor at The University of Tokyo, Kyoto Univeristy, McGill University, and Virginia Tech. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and a Member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

Dr. Rikvold’s research focuses on applications of equilibrium and nonequilibrium computational statistical mechanics to a wide range of problems. These include surface structures of porous hydrogels, structue and dynamics of interfaces driven through a medium by an external force, electrochemical adsorption processes, dynamics of magnetization reversal in thin films, network-theoretical analysis of electrical power grids, and topics in evolutionary ecology.

Publications

E-mail: p.a.rikvold@fys.uio.no

Basab Chattopadhyay

Researcher, Department of Physics

Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)

Publications in CRIStin

E-mail: basab.chattopadhyay@ntnu.no

Santanu Sinha

Researcher, Department of Physics

University of Oslo (UiO)

Publications in CRIStin

E-mail: santanu.sinha@ntnu.no

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Postdoctoral Fellows

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Khobaib

Department of Physics, University of Oslo

Khobaib started his Postdoc at PoreLab/The Njord center on September 1st, 2022. He has been at Njord as a guest researcher from November 2021 to May 2022. He got his PhD in soft matter physics from Adam Mickiewicz University (UAM) in Poznan, Poland. At UiO he will be working on two-phase in porous materials with the controlled disorder.

E-mail: khobaibk@fys.uio.no

Paula Reis

Department of Physics, University of Oslo

During my postdoctoral fellowship at PoreLab, I will investigate how the connectivity through thin liquid films affects drainage flows in porous media. Using computational methods, the flow of two-immiscible fluids will be modeled at the pore-scale, with a special focus on representing the enhancement of the wetting phase displacement promoted by the pathways formed by thin layers of liquid left behind the main drainage front. The numerical predictions will be compared directly with experimental data, also carried out under the PoreLab/Njord FlowConn project.

Supervisor: Marcel Moura

E-mail: paula.reis@mn.uio.no

Kevin Pierce

The NJORD Centre for Studies of the Physics of the Earth, University of Oslo

I am a new postdoctoral researcher at Porelab and the Njord centre brought on to study mixing phenomena in porous media flow. I am educated in multiple disciplines, with PhD training in geomorphology and hydrology, and MSc training in statistical and condensed matter physics. My ambition at Njord is to work between these disciplines to produce new understanding of fluid mixing below Earth’s surface.

Supervisors: Gaute Linga

E-mail: kevin.pierce@mn.uio.no

Yuequn Fu

Department of Physics, University of Oslo

My research aims to work on both experimental and theoretical aspects of multiphase flow and pattern formation in frictional fluids and porous media. The atomistic insights into the flow in porous media are expected to archive. In combination with experimental study, molecular dynamics simulations are employed to investigate the atomic-level formation, deformation, patterns, mechanisms, and rheology of the flow in porous media.

Supervisors: Eirik Flekkøy and Knut Jørgen Måløy

E-mail: yuequn.fu@fys.uio.no

Morten Hammer

Department of Chemistry, NTNU

In my PostDoc, I aim to develop theory and a numerical simulation framework for classical density functional theory (DFT) for fluids to study transport in porous media through thin films and heterogeneous structures in the presence of a strong thermal gradient. Disjoining pressure, thermal diffusion and surface effects provide various routes for transport in the porous medium, which will be analysed and understood in detail by combining molecular simulations and DFT for fluids. The DFT will utilise the open-source thermodynamics framework Thermopack to describe fluid properties.

Supervisor: Øivind Wilhelmsen

E-mail: Morten.Hammer@ntnu.no

Gaute Linga

NJORD Centre for Studies of the Physics of the Earth, University of Oslo,

In my research, I study the complexity of fluid flow through porous media undergoing deformation due to e.g. fracturing and precipitation-dissolution processes. This is done by combining numerical simulations on the pore-scale and below with methods from statistical physics. The research includes development of models and numerical methods for simulation of two-phase flow coupled with solute transport and complicated boundary conditions, as well as carrying out computational studies which yield direct comparison to experiments, e.g. dynamic X-ray tomography data.

Supervisors: François Renard and Eirik Grude Flekkøy

E-mail: gaute.linga@mn.uio.no

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PhD Candidates

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Tage Malty

Department of Chemistry, NTNU

During my Ph.D. I will investigate Novel quantum refrigerant mixtures for energy efficient hydrogen liquefaction. The main goal will be to develop new, accurate molecular based thermodynamic models for quantum mixed refrigerants.

Large-scale transport across long distances requires that hydrogen is in a dense phase. A promising candidate, both from a cost and energy point-of-view is liquid hydrogen (LH₂), as it gives superior flexibility in the receiving end with respect to purity, pressurisation, distribution, and usage. The energy requirement for this process is large, but a key enabler for reducing this energy requirement is the utilization of quantum refrigerants, consisting of H₂, neon, and helium.

Several areas will need to be addressed during the project to learn more about these refrigerants. The topics of research will be to map the risk of solid-formation of neon at the lowest temperatures, improve upon the “SAFT-VRQ Mie” equation of state (EOS) for lower temperatures, apply square gradient theory to refrigerants to determine the surface tensions of these fluid mixtures, and to perform molecular simulations of refrigerants using quantum path integral sampling.

Supervisor: Professor Øivind Wilhelmsen and co-supervisors: Morten Hammer and Associate Professor Ander Lervik

E-mail: tage.maltby@ntnu.no

Elizaveta Sidler

Department of Physics, NTNU

My PhD project is dedicated to the study of the process of biomineralization by computer simulation method. Biomineralization can be defined as the crystallization of certain minerals in the presence of biogenic compounds (proteins, amino acids etc.). Complex organic-inorganic structures in the form of sea shells and bones arise as a result of biomineralization. This process is still little studied, includes many stages, and can’t be described by existing theories. Many experiments have been carried out to investigate the process, but computer simulation has advantages, as it allows you to study the earliest stages of biomineralization, as well as comprehensively explore the process at the molecular level and ultimately derive the concepts, principles of biomineralization. The object of my research is calcium carbonate in the water environment. I started by studying three polymorphs of calcium carbonate – calcite, vaterite and aragonite, their stability and role in the crystallization process. Molecular dynamic with various force-fields and advanced techniques as umbrella sampling and RETIS will be applied to the study.

Supervisor: Associate Professor Raffaela Cabriolu and co-supervisor: Erika Eiser

E-mail: elizaveta.sidler@ntnu.no

Ilaria Beechey-Newman

Department of Physics, NTNU

My PhD project will be experimentally investigating the anomalous diffusion of heat in nanoporous media during heat-thaw cycles. The primary aim of this will be to verify theory on the topic developed by other members of PoreLab.

This will be achieved using carefully designed model colloid networks, of known pore size distribution, to create a porous medium that allows the study of flow of complex fluids and gases through them in the lab. These systems will be analysed using advance light scattering techniques, and simple thermo-couple measurements.

Understanding of such systems will be important in the development of novel membrane materials for use in a wide range of technologies, including but not limited to: bioartificial membranes and organs for application in medicine, and cathode materials for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

Supervisor: Erika Eiser and co-supervisor: Associate Professor Raffaela Cabriolu

E-mail: ilaria.beechey-newman@ntnu.no

Hristina Dragovic

Department of Energy and Process engineering, NTNU

The project for my Ph.D. is part of the project named PredictCUI: “Experimental investigation of moisture transport in mineral wool“. The pipe is insulated using open fibrous materials such as mineral wool and insulation is protected from water ingress using a thin metal which is called cladding, but protection is never perfect, so water will enter in some locations and migrate through the insulation, causing the spread of corrosion, a common problem known as Corrosion under Insulation (CUI). This problem affects mostly petroleum and chemical industries. The research project PredictCUI will focus on building the physical understanding of the problem and developing humidity monitoring system that will help to locate where water has entered the system and improve the understanding of humidity transport in pipe insulation in general. Specially, the research work will be consisted of laboratory measurements that will be performed to improve understanding of transport mechanisms of liquid water as well as water vapor (diffusion of water vapor, transport of liquid water through capillarity, evaporation/condensation) in the highly open porous insulation materials. Laboratory measurements will provide measured data that need to be collected and analysed using computer code that will be developed for this purpose. In the PredictCUI project, measurements within experimental work package WP2 will be performed on three different temporal and spatial scales, in three different setups: annular setup, cross-sectional setup, experiments performed on NMR setup. Researchers including experimentalists from industry partners, NTNU EPT (Department of Energy and Process Engineering) and SINTEF will collaborate in this project.

Supervisors: Ole Jørgen Nydal at NTNU and Åsmund Ervik at SINTEF

E-mail: hristina.d.pejcev@ntnu.no

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Vegard Gjeldvik Jervell

Department of Chemistry, NTNU

During my Ph.D., I will investigate transport properties at interfaces. The starting point of the research is classical density functional theory and kinetic gas theory.

Our aim is to develop a consistent theory with the capability of providing quantitative predictions of transport across phase boundaries. Furthermore, it is of importance that the theory should hold not only at uniform conditions, but also in the presence of large thermal gradients and in porous structures.

The possibility of accurately predicting transport coefficients at phase boundaries and in porous structures without the use of costly MD-simulations can provide a powerful tool in the development of battery technology, CO2- and hydrogen storage, separation technology, and much more.

Supervisor: Øivind Wilhelmsen

E-mail: vegard.g.jervell@ntnu.no

Reza Haghanihasanabadi

Department of Geoscience and Petroleum, NTNU

My research is about working on pore-scale modeling of multiphase fluid flow inside porous media using the lattice Boltzmann method. Various phenomena, including capillary entry pressures, layer flow, snap-off, cooperative pore-body filling, and trapping in multiphase flow, happen in the pore scale and they strongly depend on the wettability of a rock sample. This study aims to conduct direct modeling of multiphase flow on segmented micro-CT images of fluid distribution inside a porous medium seen in experiments to find the wettability map of the matrix surface. To do so, developing a workflow together with advancing the capabilities of an open-source LB code are considered, which can also be used for different physics concerning fluid flows inside porous media.

Supervisors: Carl Fredrik Berg / Eirik Grude Flekkøy

E-mail: reza.haghanihasanabadi@ntnu.no

Fazel Mirzaei

Department of Physics, NTNU

I’m working on computational imaging, ranging from medical to industrial and environmental applications. I’m working on multiphase flow visualization as a PhD candidate at NTNU. Being able to quantitatively observe multiphase liquid flow in porous materials would be a key enabler for solving a wide range of challenges deeply rooted in today’s societal needs. Examples include understanding the transport of pollutants in the soil and in ground water, the potential escape of sequestrated CO2, the distribution of drugs in living tissue, and the uptake of water and minerals by plants. X-ray tomography has during the last decade developed at a rapid pace but has the fundamental limitation that materials of similar electron density give weak image contrast. As a goal, our working hypothesis is that despite flux limitations, liquid flow dynamics in porous media can be quantitatively imaged by neutron tomography if suitable isotopic contrast variation is combined with concepts borrowed from recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and information theory.

Supervisor: Dag Werner Breiby

E-mail: fazel.mirzaei@ntnu.no

Scholar google: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3No7MBQAAAAJ&hl=en

Hyejeong Cheon

Department of Physics, NTNU

The project for my Ph.D. is part of the project named PredictCUI: modelling to predict water liquid and vapor migration through porous media.

Moisture migration in porous insulation layer from water penetration causes corrosion, so called Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI). In oil and gas industry, insulation layer surrounds pipes and it is observed frequently that pipes are corroded due to CUI. Corrosion is directly related to process efficiency and safety, so it is important to predict where CUI could occur.

Specifically, we will develop a mathematical model of water liquid and vapor (two-phase flow) transports in pore network to understand how and where CUI occurs. Study will be conducted on multi-scale modelling with the help of statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and numerical methods. Researchers including experimentalists from industry partners, NTNU EPT (Department of Energy and Process Engineering) and SINTEF will also collaborate in this project.

Supervisors: Øivind Wilhelmsen,Kathrine Røe Redalen, Signe Kjelstrup, Santanu Sinha

E-mail: Hyejeong.Cheon@ntnu.no

Hursanay Fyhn

Department of Physics, NTNU

The aim is to develop the theoretical framework that describes immiscible two-phase flow in porous media. More specifically, the focus is on viscous fingers that occur when a non-wetting fluid pushes a more viscous wetting fluid during a drainage process. The task is carried out through solving constitutive equations and comparing them with the results from numerical dynamic network model and experiments.

Supervisors: Alex Hansen and Knut Jørgen Måløy

E-mail: Hursanay.Fyhn@ntnu.no

Sebastian Everard Nordby Price

Department of Chemistry, NTNU

Encapsulating the drug into nanoparticles (NPs) before transporting them to its target, is a common way to minimize the toxicity towards healthy tissue. However, a challenge in the use of NPs, is to achieve sufficiently dosage and homogenous distribution of the NPs in the target tissue. Lately, focused ultrasound (FUS) has been shown to improve the delivery of NPs and drugs.

I will in this project be working theoretically on developing models for transport of molecules through tissue/porous media from data given by Caroline Einen, who will be doing the experimental laboratory work. Our goal is to reveal the transport mechanisms for NPs in tissues, and create a predictive model for delivery of NP to tumours.

Supervisors: Anders Lervik, Signe Kjelstrup, Magnus Aashammer Gjennestad and Ruth Catharina de Lange Davies

E-mail: sebastian.n.price@ntnu.no

Caroline Einen

Department of Physics, NTNU

Nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with therapeutic agents can be used as vesicles for delivery of drugs to tumors for reduced toxic effects in healthy tissue. A specific approach to achieve improved targeted delivery is to combine NPs with microbubbles (MB) and focused ultrasound treatments (FUS). Application of FUS in the presence of MBs can cause the MB to oscillate or implode, which in turn give mechanical forces that facilitate extravasation of the NPs from the vasculature and further push the NPs further into tissue, a strategy that has shown enhanced delivery of drugs to tumors.

My project aims to increase the understanding of the underlying mechanisms governing the success of NP delivery to tumor tissue using the MB and FUS combination. My work is a part of the research project ““Ultrasound-mediated transport of nanoparticles in tissue: Creating a predictive model combining theory, simulations and experiments” funded by the Research Council of Norway. I will investigate the process of NP transport in tissue experimentally, where PhD candidate Sebastian Price will attempt to make a predictive model based on the experimental data, resulting in a tool for designing the optimum FUS treatment for effective NP delivery

Supervisors: Catharina de Lange Davies, Rune Hansen, Einar Sulheim and Signe Kjelstrup

E-mail: Caroline.Einen@ntnu.no

Håkon Pedersen

Department of Physics, NTNU

The topic of my PhD is the thermodynamics and statistical mechanics of immiscible two-phase flow in porous media. These systems can span over an extreme range of length scales. At the scale of individual pores and phase-boundaries, a few nanometers at the smallest, the physical picture is quite different from what is seen at macroscopic scales. Determining the macroscopic flow from the physics at the pore scale, dubbed the «upscaling problem», is what we will attempt to solve.

In the end, the macroscopic phase flow will be described by a general thermodynamic framework, connected to the statistical mechanics of the system. These thermodynamic relations are supplied by constitutive equations which relate the macroscopic flow of the fluid to driving forces. In recent years, it has been shown that a non-linear relation between flow and driving force, e.g. pressure, might occur in porous media systems.

To solve the upscaling problem, we will use numerical network models to examine the predictions of our theory, and verify our results with experiments performed at the PoreLab node at UiO

Supervisors: Alex Hansen and Knut Jørgen Måløy

E-mail: Hakon.Pedersen@ntnu.no

Federico Lanza

Cotutelle (Joint PhD degree) between:

Laboratoire de Physique Théorique et Modèles Statistiques (LPTMS), CNRS, University Paris-Saclay, France

Department of Physics, NTNU, Norway

Yield stress fluids can flow through the soil only above a critical pressure drop.
Although ubiquitous and relevant for industry, the laws governing their flow
are still misunderstood. Near the critical pressure drop, the liquid flows only
along open channels, showing strong analogies with the plastic depinning of the
vortex lattice in a dirty superconductor, or the excited states of directed
polymers in random media. In this thesis we plan to extend the methods
developed in that context to describe the rheology of a two-phase system
(Newtonian and yield stress fluid) in a porous medium, focusing on the
evolution of phase interface and on the formation of bubbles of yield stress
fluids in the capillary tubes. Our work can also provide new clues on a long
standing problem in statistical physics: the glassy transition in finite
dimension. We combine different approaches: numerical simulations, optimization
algorithms and directed polymer physics

Supervisors: Alberto Rosso (LPTMS, France) and Alex Hansen (NTNU, Norway)

E-mail: federico.lanza@universite-paris-saclay.fr

Tomislav Vukovic

Department of Geoscience and Petroleum, NTNU

The topic of my PhD is optimization of screening criteria for green enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods. A well-designed screening process is crucial for the success of the green chemical EOR. Currently there are many uncertainties in process induced by the oversimplification of the procedures or by the lack of full understanding of the recovery mechanisms. Therefore the aim of my PhD is to describe oil mobilization process and recovery mechanisms in porous medium based on the dynamic emulsification behavior in self-designed oil traps using 2D micromodels. Additionally, zeta and streaming potential measurements will be utilized for the wettability alteration investigation. Extracted data will be used for the optimization of the screening criteria.

Supervisors: Antje van der Net, Umer Farooq and Ole Torsæter

E-mail: Tomislav.Vukovic@ntnu.no

Beatrice Baldelli

Department of Physics, UiO

I study gravity-stabilized flow, with lighter fluid flowing in a system initially filled with heavier fluid, over a self-affine surface. I am interested in two related systems: flow in the presence of temperature gradients, and isothermal flow for a solution with varying solute concentration. I run simulations of these systems through the coupled Lattice Boltzmann Method, in order to investigate the effect of buoyancy and geometry on the flow.

Supervisors: Eirik Grude Flekkøy/Knut Jørgen Måløy/Gaute Linga

E-mail: beatrice.baldelli@fys.uio.no

Joachim Falck Brodin

Department of Physics, UiO

Joachim’s research is centered around experimental studies of flow in porous media in a 3D set-up. The majority of the experimental work conducted in the field has been on 2D systems. His work includes the development and optimization of a 3D scanner, based on optical index matching of fluids and the solid, porous medium.

Currently he is focusing on the interplay between gravitational, capillary and viscous forces.

Supervisors: Knut Jørgen Måløy/Eirik Grude Flekkøy

E-mail: j.f.brodin@fys.uio.no

Mohammad Hossein Golestan

Department of Geoscience and Petroleum, NTNU

Pore-scale imaging and modeling has matured to a routine service in the oil and gas industry, specially during Enhanced Oil recovery (EOR) investigations. One of the EOR methods is Low Salinity Waterflooding (LSW) which is a combination of different mechanisms, including wettability alteration and osmotic pressure differences. Osmosis is a recently discovered mechanisms, where oil droplets acts as semi-permeable membranes for water. Transport of water over the semi-permeable membrane expands inaccessible higher saline water and induces pressure differences. the saline water expansion can relocate oil and open new water pathways. Such relocation can lead to a microscopic diversion mechanism, thereby increasing the oil recovery. the aim of my PhD studies is to use Lattice Boltzmann simulation method to assess the effect of osmosis during LSW.

E-mail: mohammad.h.golestan@ntnu.no

Kim Roger Kristiansen

Department of Chemistry, NTNU

Low-temperature industrial waste heat is a largely untapped energy resource. Existing methods for converting low-temperature waste heat typically do not exceed 15 % of the Carnot limit. My research capitalizes on recent developments in research on thermal osmosis, which suggest that power production by thermo-osmotic pressure can greatly exceed current methods in efficiency. I aim to study the potential to use low-temperature waste heat in order to simultaneously purify water and produce mechanical power, by exploiting a thermal driving force for water transport through nanoporous membranes. My work combines theoretical insight through the theory of non-equilibrium thermodynamics and hydrodynamics, with experimental work for determining the empirical coefficients in the theory.

E-mail: kim.kristiansen@ntnu.no

Astrid Fagertun Gunnarshaug

Department of Chemistry, NTNU

Lithium ion batteries are temperature sensitive. Charging and discharging of batteries give rise to thermal gradients within the battery cell. My research aims to gain a better understanding of these temperature gradients and contribute to more accurate temperature profiles by investigating local reversible heat effects in lithium ion batteries. Non-equilibrium thermodynamics allows us to measure local heat effects through the thermoelectric effect. This is found experimentally by measuring the response in electric potential of a symmetric cell with lithium ion battery materials exposed to a temperature gradient. These measurements also has the advantage of at the same time contributing to the study of thermoelectric cells.

Supervisors: Signe Kjelstrup/Odne Burheim

E-mail: astrid.f.gunnarshaug@ntnu.no

Hao Gao

Department of Civil and environmental Engineering, NTNU

This is a joint research project between the PoreLab center of excellence and the Geotechnical research group, NTNU. The area of my research is Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical modelling of soil behavior during freezing and thawing processes. My work aims to develop a discontinuous computational model for the physical and thermodynamic processes in water saturated porous media during freezing and thawing.

Supervisors: Gustav Grimstad/ Seyed Ali Ghoreishian Amiri/ Elena Scibilia

E-mail: hao.gao@ntnu.no