Weiterbildung - Short Course

SHORT COURSE

Multiphase Flow, Transport and Bioprocesses in Porous Media

- application to CO2 sequestration, subsurface energy storage,
and contaminated sites

April 23^rd - 27^th, 2012

·         Flyer

·         Registration

·         Program

·         Photos from previous courses (09/2006) (09/2004) (09/2003) (09/2002) (03/2002) (03/2001)

Framework: The number of participants is limited to 25. After passing a short exam, the participants receive a certificate equivalent to 3 ECTS credits for 34 hours, 22 of which are lectures and 12 are practical lessons.

Target group: The course is designed for those interested in gaining a sound understanding of bioremediation processes and applications of the multiphase flow and transport models (e.g. chlorinated hydrocarbons, mineral oil) in the subsurface (saturated or unsaturated zone). Recommended background for the participants is a Master's degree or equivalent qualifications.

Dates and venue: April 23^rd - 27^th, 2012
The course will be conducted at the Institute for Modelling Hydraulic and Environmental Systems, University of Stuttgart, Germany.

Multiphase Flow, Transport and Bioprocesses: The topics concerning subsurface multiphase flow, transport, and bioprocesses are of interest to researchers from various study fields. This course provides insight into migration and natural attenuation of contaminants as well as storage of CO2 in geological formations. All required knowledge of the physical, chemical, and biological processes along with the mathematical formulations and assumptions are covered during the course.

Course overview: During the course, fundamental principles governing subsurface single- and multi-phase transport will be presented. The important microbial processes which underlie the natural and enhanced attenuation of plumes via biotransformation will be discussed. The topics include the development of conceptual models, the transition from concepts to mathematical models, and the applications essential for an effective solution of realistic problems associated with these conceptual models. Transport/reaction concepts will be illustrated using computational visualization methods, with a demonstration of the influence of subsurface heterogeneities on contaminant migration. The applied problems will be connected to the key topics (i.e. advection/dispersion, biotransformation, bioaugmentation, and natural attenuation). Aspects concerning CO 2 sequestration as well as bioremediation of organic compounds and heavy metals will be discussed in detail. A number of illustrative sample problems will be solved in small groups. The participants are invited to contribute problems from their own projects.

Course directors:

Rainer Helmig is a full professor at the Institute for Modelling Hydraulic and Environmental Systems at the University of Stuttgart, Germany. For several years he has been working on the development and application of numerical models for the simulation of multiphase flow and transport processes in fractured and highly heterogeneous porous media. Further research topics are non isothermal multiphase flow, hysteresis of constitutive relationships and different discretization techniques.

Al Cunningham has developed a cross-disciplinary research and education program in Hydrodynamics and Microbial Process Engineering. He currently coordinates industrially sponsored research in the Center for Biofilm Engineering at Montana State University on bioremediation of air water, and soil, microbial fouling in closed conduits, biofilm regrowth in drinking water systems, and microbial product souring in oil bearing formations. Dr. Cunningham has developed a graduate level projects course which investigates environmental and related microbial process problems of concern to industry. Recent projects have focused on subsurface bioremediation of petroleum releases.

Holger Class has worked in the field of modelling multiphase multicomponent flow processes with thermal influences for more than 10 years. His research interests cover different engineering applications like contaminant migration in the subsurface or CO 2 storage in geologic media. He is currently heading a workgroup on CO 2 storage at the Dept. of Hydromechanics and Modelling of Hydrosystems.

Anozie Ebigbo is a postdoctoral researcher at Université de Lorraine in Nancy, France. He specialises in the numerical modelling of microbial processes and their interplay with hydraulic and geochemical processes in the subsurface. Areas of application of his research work can be found in the geosequestration of carbon dioxide and the underground storage of hydrogen.

Download the course flyer