Farshad is a P.h.D. cadidate at Australian National University (ANU). He studied Mining Engineering (B.S. from Shahroud University). He has recevied his M.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) in 2014. The title of his thesis was “Influences of metal oxide nanoparticles on EOR from sandstone reservoir” which was a research study to reveal the recovery mechanism and performance of metal oxide nanoparticles (namely Al2O3, TiO2, SiO2 and CuO) in rocks. More specifically, he investigated the role of metal oxide nanoparticles on multi-phase fluid and solid matrix interactions in reservoir rocks. This is a particularly difficult problem requiring an interdisciplinary approach involving surface chemistry and the physics of multi-phase fluids (oil, brine and gas) as well as understanding how to use sensitive laboratory equipment. Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) is the implementation of various techniques for increasing the amount of crude oil that can be extracted from an oil field.

He was granted a PhD position at ANU in 2018. He has been awarded scholarships in competitive selection processes from Australia Research Council (ARC) Training Centre of M3D Innovation and ANU during his PhD. The project that he is pursuing at ANU is “Understanding the Influence of Oil and Gas Reservoir Heterogeneity in CO2 Geo-Sequestration” under the supervision of Dr. Mohammad Saadatfar (main supervisor) and panel of advisors Prof. Mark Knackstedt and Dr. Anna Herring. His background in mining and petroleum plays a vital role for carrying out this unique research. As part of his PhD research, he conduct in-situ experiments using ANU’s x-ray micro-CT facility and triaxial high pressure-tempertarue apparatus. He has been always willing to get himself to a point where he could be an asset for petroleum (industry and academic) community through passing along the experiences and knowledge that he will be collecting during his studies. In this regard, Environmental effect of CO2 emission and its amount in the atmosphere is far beyond to be ignored. Currently there is a rising global attention to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from fossil fuels’ burning. Conversely, there is a rising interest in petroleum companies to use CO2 as an approach for enhanced oil or/and gas (EOR & EGR) relatively to deal with the rapid growth in world energy demands. These two concepts together are promising through the application of CO2 injection for enhanced hydrocarbon recovery and sequestration. In the meantime, from 2015 to 2018, he was working at Departments of Energy and Mining in a German based company (GreEnMa Tech, Green Energy and Material Technology Development UG) as technical expert and office manager. Over the past decade, he has made significant research and industrial contributions to the field of Mining, Petroleum and Global Warming. This is in part demonstrated by several papers he has published and presented in acclaimed international conferences and major scientific journals.

Farshad is currently working on the writing of his P.H.D. thesis and is intending to submit it whitin the next 5 months (September 2021).

PhD (Research School of Physics) 2018-Present at ANU.

M.Sc. (Petroleum Engineering) 2012-2014 UTM.

B.Sc. (Mining Engineering) 2005-2010 IAU-S

ANU = Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
UTM = Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
IAU-S = Islamic Azad University Shahrood Branch, Shahrood, Iran

PhD
Research Title: Understanding the influence of pore-scale structural heterogeneity in CO2 geo-sequestration. (Climate Change related project)
Supervisors: Assoc. Prof. Mohammad Saadatfar (principal), Prof. Mark Alexander Knackstedt (co-supervisor), Dr. Anna Lisa Herring (co-supervisor).
Description: Since the industrial revolution in the 1750s, a steep increase of almost 30 percent in atmospheric CO2 and other greenhouse gasses concentrations has occurred. The emission of Green House Gases (GHGs) especially CO2 is the main reason for anthropogenic climate change which has been identified as the biggest global health threat of the 21st century, with impacts across multiple fields. The complex issue of climate change requires people equipped with multidisciplinary knowledge and experience applying their insights to developsolutions. On 12 December, 2015, the Paris Climate Agreement was signed by 197 countries, representing every
nation on Earth. However Australia is now becoming one of the outlier nations with Commonwealth plans to apparently continue net emissions of GHGs post 2050. In the lead up to the UN climate negotiations in 2021, COP26, Australia is expected to do more to address climate change. In 2020, Australian Federal government
released their Technology Investment Roadmap outlining their priorities for CO2 emission-reduction technologies. Meeting the 2°C target of the Paris Climate Agreement is feasible only by extensive implementation of negative emissions technologies (NETs) that draw down atmospheric CO2 and use it or store it safely. Of the various viable strategies outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for atmospheric emission reduction, the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) strategy presents an enormous potential to have significant impacts on atmospheric CO2 reduction. Among various storage options in the CCS strategy, depleted oil and gas reservoirs along with unminable coalbed are excellent candidates for geological storage of CO2 due to the availability of reservoir data from the hydrocarbon production period and methane production from coal seams. The focus of this research is directed towards understanding the role of rock heterogeneity on the safety and capacity of CO2 geo-sequestration at the pore and core scales.

Master of Science
Thesis Title: Influences of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles on EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery)
from Sandstone Reservoir.
Thesis Grade: A (4.0/4.0)
Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Radzuan Junin
Description: The oil and gas industry must face the challenges to unlock the resources that are becoming increasingly difficult to reach with conventional technology. Most oil fields around the world have achieved the stage where the total production rate is nearing the decline phase. In a past decade, various nanoparticles experiments have been initiated for Improved/Enhanced Oil Recovery (IOR/EOR) project by worldwide petroleum researchers and it has been recognized as promising agents for IOR/EOR at laboratory scale. It has motivated me to perform research study to reveal the recovery
mechanism and performance of metal oxide nanoparticles in porous medium.

Bachelor
Thesis Title: Effect of Releasing Energy after Earthquake to Underground Construction.
Thesis Grade: A - (18/20)
Supervisors: Dr. A. Akhiyani.

ï‚·I completed my M.Sc. (Taught Course) in an exceptionally short period of time
(only 3 semesters), well ahead of the normal 4-5 semesters.
ï‚· Outstanding student at M.Sc. level, with GPA 3.63 out of 4.
ï‚· I have been awarded below scholarships from Australia Research Council (ARC) Training Centre of M3D Innovation to study at Doctoral Degree (PhD) at Australian National University:

ï‚· PhD Scholarship (International), Full-Fund, (2018-Present)
ï‚· HDR Fee Remission Merit Scholarship, Full-Fund, (2018-Present)
ï‚·Postgraduate Research Support, (2019-Present)

ï‚· The first selected PhD student at ARC Training Centre of M3D Innovation.
ï‚· I have been awarded six-month internship position in Norway due to my competency in carrying out CO2-Geosequestration during my PhD as part of collaboration between ARC Training Centre of M3D & StatOil Company.

1- “Understanding the Influence of Pore-scale Rock Heterogeneity in CO2 Geo-
sequestration”, Farshad Daraei Ghadikolaei, Yulai Zhang, Lydia Knuefing, Anna
Herring, Mark Knackstedt, Mohammad Saadatfar (Accepted abstract, InterPore
Conference, England, 2021)

2- “Effect of Heterogeneity on CO2 Sequestration”, International Conference on
Tomography of Materials & Structures (ICTMS) July 2019, Cairns, Australia, Farshad
Daraei Ghadikolaei, Anna Herring, Mark Knackstedt, Mohammad Saadatfar.

3- “On the Application of Well Stimulation Method in Improvement of Oil Recovery”,
Abdoullatif Gharibi, Mansoor Zoveidavianpoor, Farshad Daraei Ghadikolaei
(Periodical, Applied Mechanics and Materials, 2015).

4- “Transport and Aggregation of Al2O3 Nanoparticles through Saturated Limestone under High Ionic Strength Conditions: Measurements and Mechanisms”, Ali Esfandiari Bayat, Radzuan Junin, Farshad Daraei Ghadikolaei, Ali Piroozian (Journal of nanoparticle research, 2014).

5- “Evaluation of Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage Process in Heavy Oil and Tar Sands
Recovery in Iran”, Farshad Daraei Ghadikolaei, Reza Cheraghi Kootiani, (IGCESH
Conference, Malaysia, 2014).

6- “A Comprehensive Literature Review of Models for Re-injection Operations in Oil and Gas Wells”, Reza Cheraghi Kootiani, Farshad Daraei Ghadikolaei, (IGCESH Conference,
Malaysia, 2014).

7- “Investigation of Water and Gas Injection Performance in One of The Iranian Oil
Reservoir”, Reza Cheraghi Kootiani, Farshad Daraei Ghadikolaei, (IGCESH
Conference, Malaysia, 2014).

ï‚· Climate Change
ï‚· Global warming
ï‚· CO 2 Capture and Storage (CCS)
ï‚· Enhanced Oil & Gas Recovery (EOR & EGR)
ï‚· Using Nano-particles in oil recovery
ï‚· Mining, Exploration