Mr Farshad Daraei Ghadikolaei is a past member of RSPE. Contact details and information may no longer be correct.

Mr Farshad Daraei Ghadikolaei

Daraei Ghadikolaei, Farshad profile
Position PhD Student
Department Materials Physics
Research group
Office phone (02) 612 56501
Email
Office Cockcroft 3 25

Biography

Dr. Farshad Daraei Ghadikolaei completed his Ph.D. at the Australian National University (ANU) in 2023. 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.

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 Ph.D. The project that he pursued at ANU was “Influence of Rock 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 played a vital role for carrying out this unique research. As part of his PhD research, he conducted 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 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.

Education

PhD (Research School of Physics) 2018-2023


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


Ph.D.
Research Title: Influence of Rock Heterogeneity in CO2 Geo-Sequestration.
Supervisors: Assoc. Prof. Mohammad Saadatfar (principal), Prof. Mark Alexander Knackstedt (co-supervisor), Dr. Anna Lisa Herring (co-supervisor).

Description: Among the viable strategies outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for atmospheric emission reduction strategies and technologies, geological storage of CO2 (CO2 geo-sequestration) holds an enormous promise with the potential to have significant impacts on emissions and atmospheric CO2 reduction. Of the various geological storage options, sandstone aquifers are potential geological formations for storing captured CO2
because they possess characteristics that are conducive to safe and effective storage. However, predicting the behaviour of scCO2 in rocks is challenging largely due to the complex interactions between various fluids and minerals, in particular in the presence of structural heterogeneities presented by real rocks. The focus of this research is directed towards understanding the role of rock heterogeneity on the spatial distribution of scCO2 in sandstone rocks. I present results from in-situ experiments, where sub-surface conditions are created in the laboratory to simulate CO2 geo-sequestration process. High resolution X-ray micro-computed tomography scans were acquired throughout the experiments to resolve pore scale features and fluid distribution in the system. The results combine experiments, 2D-3D-4D imaging and simulations. The results show that trapped CO2 in the rock is influenced by a range of structural and morphological features at the pore scale. I measure that rock heterogeneity has a significant impact on the CO2 phase connectivity, which consequently affects the storage capacity of the rock. I propose that the more structural heterogeneity and stratification at the core scale reflects the stronger capillary heterogeneity in the system along with a relative variability in pressure profile. I find that a sample with narrow distribution of the Wetting Index, which implies
a homogeneous wetting state, can have a higher amount of trapped scCO2 after imbibition and vice versa. The findings indicate that the wetting state of pores varies with the pore size in my rock samples. I quantify non-wetting phase connectivity via an invariant topological measure, Euler Characteristic or Euler number (calculated in 3D). The results indicate that increasing mobilisation of the non-wetting fluid during imbibition is related with high connectedness of this phase and vice versa. The results indicate that, the ratio between buoyancy (gravity force) and capillary force which also called the Bond numbers influence residual saturation. Accordingly, residual scCO2 saturation controlled by porous structure (more specifically pore sizes), larger pore sizes result in dramatically lower residual saturation. I lastly conduct two sets of cyclic brine-CO2 injection experiment. The findings illustrate that trapped scCO2 increases after each imbibition for the first set of cyclic injections experiment (injection rate of 0.1 ml/min) but decreases for the second set (injection rate of 1 ml/min). The pore-by-pore wettability analysis of the first series of cyclic injection experiment (0.1 ml/min rate) show that the sample's wettability after each cycle alter to more hydrophobic conditions as the average value of wetting index increases. In contrast, pore-by-pore wettability study for cyclic injections for the second series (injection rate of 1 ml/min) exhibit that pore wettability changes towards a more hydrophilic state after each cycle. Overall, this thesis enhances our understanding of CO2 geo-sequestration by elucidating the intricate relationships between geological heterogeneity and scCO2 behaviour in sandstone rocks. The insights gained contribute valuable knowledge for optimizing CO2 storage strategies and advancing efforts to combat atmospheric CO2 levels effectively.


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.

Grants and awards

1- 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.
2- Outstanding student at M.Sc. level, with GPA 3.63 out of 4.
3- 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:

4- PhD Scholarship (International), Full-Fund, (2018-2023)
5- HDR Fee Remission Merit Scholarship, Full-Fund, (2018-2023)
6- Postgraduate Research Support, (2019-2023)


7- The first selected PhD student at ARC Training Centre of M3D Innovation.
8- 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.

Publication highlights

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).

Research interests

1- Climate Change
2- Global warming
3- CO 2 Capture and Storage (CCS)
4- Enhanced Oil & Gas Recovery (EOR & EGR)
5- Using Nano-particles in oil recovery
6- Mining, Exploration