We focus on sustainability engineering related to well cementing and industrial GHG emissions. Many of our projects come from operations arising in the petroleum industry and other natural resource industries. Significant interest and activity here centres on effective cementing of wells. These processes are important in preventing leakage of gas and other hydrocarbons from the well: during the well lifetime and at end of life (plug and abandonment). Similar techniques are used for example in CO2 storage. The two main topics we study are well integrity, cementing and leakage issues; and emissions from oilsands tailings ponds. We’ve also studied the mechanics of viscoplastic (yield stress) fluids for the past 25 years.
Well cementing and integrity
This has been a major activity area for the group over the past many years. We study all aspects of well cementing, from primary cementing to well decommissioning and associated remedial cementing processes. Although there is a strong fluid mechanics focus, we also address other mechanics topics, shrinkage, leakage statistics and models
Emissions from oilsands tailings ponds
In tailings ponds the upper strata (FFT & MFT) are colloidal suspensions containing fines and clay particles, with a yield stress. Our work here focuses at the behaviour of bubbles in yield stress fluids: trapping, release and migration of bubbles, transport across interfaces, multiple bubbles, stability, etc.
Yield stress fluids applications
Yield stress fluids are ubiquitous. For the past 25+ years we’ve studied hydrodynamic instabilities, multi-fluid flows, bubbles, particles and droplets, numerical methods, displacement and dispersion in different guises.