Quality assessment of organic geotechnical samples

For certain geotechnical structures, such as dikes and levees, the design quality is heavily reliant on the sampling quality. In addition, the extent of consequences on geotechnical design of using parameters from samples with a certain degree of disturbance in laboratory tests is unclear. While the available literature has been mainly focussed...

Geothermal mining: The potential for environmentally friendly extraction of valuable components from geothermal brines in the Netherlands

In a world transitioning towards renewable energies and lithium-battery powered cars, there has been an annual increase in demand of 6% for lithium and other rare metals between 2000 and 2008 (Stringfellow & Dobson, 2021a), and this increase in demand is forecast to continue through 2040 (Latnussa et al., 2020). Meanwhile, there is a concern...

Analysis of Two Problems in Network Transport: Flow through static foam in artificial fractures and Steady-state two-phase relative permeabilities in microfluidic devices

In this thesis two problems in network transport are analyzed. <br/><br/>The first problem concerns flow through static foam in artificial fractures. The objective is to determine whether the assumption of Li et al. (2021), that capillary pressure is uniform in the region of interest, with static foam in an artificial fracture, is justified....

Dissolution Patterns Prediction in Carbonate System

Acidizing is a widely used technique for intensification of geothermal wells. At certain conditions, acid injection results in a formation of highly conductive channels, e.g. wormholes. The associated rock matrix dissolution is highly nonlinear and may influence the fluid flow as well as rock properties. Wormhole patterns and breakthrough time...

Nonlinear 2D Finite Element Modeling: Cyclic Energy Storage in Salt Caverns with Creep Deformation Physics

A novel 2D finite element method (FEM) on unstructured grid for nonlinear time-dependent deformation of materials is developed. The objective is to model the complex deformation behavior of the rock salt, inside which caverns are mined to store green fuels (such as hydrogen). The analyses and the developments of the present work allow for...

2D Modelling of a fold and thrust belt in the French Prealps

During this thesis, 2D modelling using the MOVE software suite is performed on a fold and thrust belt in the French Prealps. The area of interest is called the Couspeau area and is 72 km2. In this area, Vocontian basin sediments deposited during the Jurassic and Cretaceous can be found. The area contains well exposed fold and thrust structures....

An improved carbon dioxide thermodynamic model applied for reservoir simulation: Implementation of an improved thermodynamic model in Delft Advanced Terra Simulator (DARTS) and an investigation into the effects of impurities on gas plume behaviour

Geological storage of COኼ is a crucial and upcoming technology to reduce anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. Due to the buoyant characteristic of injected gas, the security of underground storage is a major concern. To asses the security of COኼ storage, an accurate prediction of the gas plume behaviour is essential. In this study, a fully...

Investigations of the Destruction Mechanism of High Pressure Water Jetting

As the demand for green energy is growing, geothermal energy will play an important part in the future energy mix. Geothermal energy is widely used for both direct-use and electricity generation. A viable geothermal reservoir must have a sufficiently high temperature, a fluid pathway through the rock (permeability) and a fluid that can collect...

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 (&lt;10cm). Core flooding experiments were performed in a specially designed setup...