Abstract
In this talk, I will briefly discuss the opportunities and challenges for adapting E&P skills for the subsurface aspects of decarbonization and Energy transition. CO2 EOR is an important bridge technology that comes with a wealth of experience and expertise for Carbon Sequestration. Understanding the CO2 plume movement is critical for ensuring storage integrity and typically involves multiphase flow simulation through high-resolution geologic models. Model calibration by reconciling such high-resolution models to flow and transport data leads to a non-linear and ill-posed inverse problem. I will briefly touch upon three aspects of such inverse modeling: (1) recasting flow and transport equations as tomographic equations using a high frequency asymptotic approach and solution of the forward problem (2) parsimonious representation of geologic models via re-parameterization using basis functions and (3) solution of the inverse problem via multi-scale multi-objective optimization. Several field applications related to carbon sequestration and oil recovery will be presented to examine the power and utility of the approach.
Short Bio
Dr. Akhil Datta-Gupta is Regents Professor, University Distinguished Professor and holder of the L.F. Peterson ’36 Endowed Chair in the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University. Prior to Texas A&M, he was with BP Research and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Dr. Datta-Gupta’s research interests include high resolution flow simulation, parameter estimation via inverse methods and subsurface aspects of decarbonization (CCUS, HUS and geothermal energy). He directs the Texas A&M Joint Industry Project: Model Calibration and Efficient Reservoir Imaging (MCERI).
Dr. Datta-Gupta is a Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Honorary Member (the highest honor bestowed by the society) and received two of the top three technical awards (Carll Award, 2009; Uren Award, 2003) given by the society. He is also recipient of the SURA (Southeastern Universities Research Association) Distinguished Scientist Award (2019) and the U.S. Department of Energy Award for Outstanding Contributions to Basic Research in Geosciences (2008). Dr. Datta-Gupta has published over 150 peer reviewed articles and 4 books. Dr. Datta-Gupta was elected to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas in 2012.