We study how fluids interact with rock at the pore scale, and how those interactions control what matters at the field scale: mineral recovery, reservoir productivity, transport of dissolved species, and the dynamic evolution of porosity and permeability under flow.
Our research integrates correlative multi-scale 3D imaging (micro-CT, SEM/EDS, FIB-SEM nanotomography, S/TEM) with AI-assisted image-based modeling and reactive-transport simulations. The output is mechanistic understanding and physics-based constitutive laws (closure relations) that translate pore-scale insight into field-scale predictive capability.
We characterize rock microstructure across scales using a hierarchical imaging workflow: micro-CT, SEM/EDS, FIB-SEM nanotomography, and S/TEM. Correlative registration across modalities produces unified multi-scale representations of rock samples.
Machine-/deep-learning segmentation and 3D model reconstruction for complex multi-phase mineral and pore systems. Image-derived models become direct inputs to physics-based simulation.
We simulate fluid flow, solute transport, and geochemical reactions directly on the 3D digital rock. Pore-scale reactive-transport resolves dissolution-front propagation, pore-geometry evolution, and permeability feedback.
Both lines investigate fluid flow and reactive transport in porous rocks, with very different rocks and very different stakes.
Pore-scale fluid-rock reactivity in ore bodies, with applications to heap leaching and in-situ recovery of rare earth elements and other critical elements.
Open the mining studyNanoscale fluid flow, confinement effects, and reactive transport in organic-rich and nanoporous formations, drawing on extensive published expertise.
Open the shales studyUniversities, national labs, and research institutions:
We welcome partnership on current and future research projects in critical mineral and oil & gas recovery, subsurface transport, and digital rock physics.