Mathematics Colloquiums, two this week! April 6

April 1, 2015

Greetings, All:

We have special presentations on Monday, April 6 with our guest presenter, Dr. Margot Gerritsen, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Energy Resource Engineering, Stanford University

The first is the Mathematics Colloquium on Monday, April 6, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. in Siemens Hall, Room 108. The title of the presentation is "Computational Mathematician Combusts - Simulation of in-situ Combustion for Heavy Oil Recovery"

Large-scale production of very heavy oil is gaining momentum. Unfortunately, production of such reservoirs typically leads to large environmental impacts. One promising technique that may mitigate these impacts is in-situ combustion (ISC). 

In this process, (enriched) air is injected into the reservoir. After ignition a combustion front develops in situ that burns a small percentage of the oil in place and slowly moves through the reservoir producing steam along the way. The steam moves ahead of the front, heats up the oil, makes it runnier and hence easier to produce. A side benefit of this process is that the heat thus generated often cracks the oil into heavy, undesirable components that stay behind in the reservoir and lighter, more valuable components that can be brought up to the surface. 

In the last few years, Dr. Gerritsen and her colleagues plunged into heavy oil recovery to see if computational mathematics could make a difference in promoting this process over less environmentally friendly processes in the industry. ISC processes are notoriously hard to predict. She will discuss a workflow they developed involving laboratory experiments, various simulation tools and upscaling methods that increases the confidence of the oil reservoir engineer in ISC. They hope that this will lead to a wider acceptance and use of this technique.  Please note the Pre-Colloquium Tea will take place at 3:15 instead of 3:30 p.m.

The Kieval Lecture will be at 7:30 p.m. in Founders Hall 118.

"Mathematical Tools Bring Hidden Beauty to Light"

Is it difficult to believe that the linear algebra taught in school is attractive or even useful? Dr. Margot Gerritsen will make us believers. She shows that not only are these equations the very core of science and engineering, they can be turned into beautiful art.
 

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