Predictive Modelling of Hydrate Formation and Dissociation

Natural gas hydrates are often considered as a hazard in hydrocarbon production and pipeline transport, but are also recognized as a potential energy resource. Naturally occurring hydrate deposits exist under suitable conditions of low temperature and high pressure, typically in shallow marine sediments and in and below the permafrost, and may...

Applications of unstructured multi-level grid to thermal-reactive flow and transport in porous media

A coupled description of flow and thermal-reactive transport is spanning a wide range of scales in space and time. Subsurface reservoir heterogeneity with complex multi-scale features increases the complexity further. The spatial resolution required during a simulation is dependent on the type and degree of geological heterogeneity, but also on...

Active microwave remote sensing of the Amazon forest region

The Amazon rainforest is among the most vital ecosystems on earth, holding about a quarter of the global terrestrial carbon sink. Since 2005, three 100-year return period droughts have occurred, the likes of which have the potential to turn the forest from a carbon sink to a source – meaning disastrous consequences for the planet. Monitoring of...

Injectivity reduction in geothermal wells: Investigating the causes

This study investigated the three possible main causes of injectivity reduction in geothermal wells (suspended solids, scaling, biological activity). That has been done by obtaining water samples at three operating geothermal doublet locations in the Netherlands. This paper contains new geothermal data and the interpretation of them. At the...

Machine Learning Revealing Insights into Soil Stratification: An Application for Dikes and Dams

In the Netherlands, robust dike and dam design is a major concern in the context of flood defence. Due to heterogeneity of the subsoil on which these structures are founded, the validity range of in situ tests decreases drastically. Consequently, large uncertainties regarding spatial variation of soil stratification and soil layer parameters are...

Vegetation Optical Depth: its potential as an agricultural drought indicator: A case study on pepper fields in Indonesia

Droughts are a serious threat to the planet. Especially in agriculture, the consequences are devastating leading to reduced yields or crop failure with further implications for economics, politics and society. Being able to monitor and predict agricultural droughts is an important step to reduce agricultural vulnerability and secure livelihoods....

CPT-based Axial Static Capacity Approaches to Evaluate Pile Driveability in Sand

The demand for offshore wind farm installation is increasing in recent years as the concern in using sustainable energy source is rising. One of the primary steps in constructing offshore wind farm is the pile installation which is a high-risk activity due to the expensive offshore installation vessels requirement. Any factor which can result in...

Centrifuge modelling to study the effect of root spacing on load transfer mechanism in vegetated slope

Failure of slopes has been a frequently occurring hazard, which leads to loss of life and resources. To stabilize the slopes, vegetation has been used, where stump of plant roots act as passive piles by providing mechanical reinforcement. In this research, effect of spacing of trees on load transfer mechanism in a slope has been studied and...

Assessment of the effect of groundwater flow on the performance of Borehole Thermal Energy Storage systems

In a Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES) system, heat is extracted from or injected to the subsurface, taking advantage of the relatively constant temperatures of the underground. Both thermal conduction and advection can influence the performance of BTES systems, but thermal advection is often neglected in the design process. However, in...

Characterisation of Surfactant Polymer Oil Bank Mobilisation Through Relative Permeability Analysis

This research project attempts to improve the understanding of oil bank formation in Fontainebleau sandstone cores using a surfactant polymer (SP) EOR method. While oil bank formation is generally successful in longer length cores, it is elusive in short cores (<10cm). Core flooding experiments were performed in a specially designed setup...

Investigation of Vertical Cutter Mining for Increased Primary Resource Recovery and Decreased Environmental Impact: A VCM Study for De Beers, Victor Pipe, Canada

The purpose of this thesis is to aid in the development of vertical cutting mining as a mining method. In order to do so, the technical feasibility and viability, and environmental benefit of vertical cutting as a complementary mining method were investigated. The investigation was performed for the case of the Victor Diamond mine in northern...

Energy capacity of a geothermal reservoir: The effect of conductive heat transfer recharge on reservoir lifetime at low temperature conduction regimes

The effect of conductive heat transfer recharge originating from the surrounding conduction dominated geothermal system on the geothermal reservoir lifetime has been reviewed during its development, by studying the effect of multiple reservoir and production parameters. A two dimensional (2D) finite volume implicit coupling strategy, using a...

Modelling construction phases of bored tunnels with respect to internal lining forces: A comparison of Finite Element Programs

Areas are getting more and more populated causing new infrastructure lines to be constructed below the surface. A bored tunnel is one of the possibilities to create this subsurface infrastructure, but the construction process of a bored tunnel is a complicated one. Many loads and aspects are present in this construction process that can be...