Center for Energy Resources Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, has an opportunity to support a Ph.D. project:

Modeling of Salinity Effects on Waterflooding of Petroleum Reservoirs

in the framework of the large project “SmartWater – Advanced Waterflooding of Danish Oil and Gas Reservoirs”.

Description of the project
Enhanced oil recovery with new and emerging recovery technologies will be necessary for future oil production. A four-year SmartWater project is focused around the effects of injected water salinity on oil recovery. The effect is known and has been studied the last years, but the mechanisms, how change of salinity of the injected water results in better recovery, are not explained yet. This requires advanced studies, both experimental and theoretical. Both types of studies, as well as interaction between them, are planned within the SmartWater project.

The task of the Ph.D. student
The task for the Ph.D. student will be to develop a thermodynamic and transport model for displacement of oil by brines of the different salinity. Depending on the experimental results, the model should incorporate rock-fluid interaction; component exchange between oil and water; possible formation of emulsions; and/or other effects.

The student is expected to exhibit creativity, openness to new challenges and interest to independent and nontrivial research.

Required skills

• A degree (M.Sc.) in chemical or petroleum engineering, technical physics, other relevant areas;
• Knowledge of the fundamentals of flows and fluid distribution in porous media;
• Knowledge of phase equilibria and transport processes;
• Good writing skills in English;
• Interest to independent research;
• Good skills in applied mathematics, modeling and programming.

Approval and Enrolment
The scholarships for the PhD degree are subject to academic approval, and the candidates will be enrolled in one of the general degree programmes of DTU. For information about the general requirements for enrolment and the general planning of the scholarship studies, please see the DTU PhD Guide.

Salary and appointment terms
The salary and appointment terms are consistent with the current rules for PhD degree students. The period of employment is 3 years.

Further information
The project will be supervised by Associate Professor Alexander Shapiro, ash@kt.dtu.dk and Associate Professor Kaj Thomsen, kth@kt.dtu.dk with possible co-supervision from other involved researchers.

Application
We must have your online application by January 31^th, 2012. Please open the link "apply for this job online", fill in the online application form and attach the following documents;

• A letter outlining the motivation for the PhD study and for this particular project (cover letter)
• Curriculum vitae
• Grade transcripts and BSc/MSc diploma
• Excel sheet with translation of grades to the Danish grading system ( see guidelines and excel spreadsheet here)
• References

Candidates may apply prior to ob­tai­ning their master's degree, but cannot begin before having received it.

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, race, disability, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply.