→ Apply before 17/04/2020 23:59 (Brussels Time)
→ Faculty of Sciences
→ Department: WE13 - Geologie
→ Occupancy rate:100%
→ Number of positions: 1.00
→ Type of employment: Contract of unlimited duration with clause
→ Term of assignment: 2 jaar
→ Wage scale: PD1 to PD4 (doctoral degree)
→ Required diploma: PhD
About the project
In the framework of the FWO project “Energy storage in the geological subsurface: impact of salt precipitation in porous media” we have an open position for an enthusiastic post-doc within the Pore-scale Processes in Geomaterials Research group (PProGRess-UGent), member of the UGent expertise Centre for X-ray Tomography (www.ugct.ugent.be).
Storing renewable energy when there is a surplus to use at times of high demand is an important research topic regarding the energy transition. A promising technology to do this at large scale is to pump compressed air or hydrogen in the pores of subsurface rock formations. However, salts from the brine originally present in these pores may crystallize out and block the flow of storage gas. Despite its large impact on storage operations, it is currently poorly understood where and in which circumstances this takes place, due to the interplay between the physics of the process and geological heterogeneity. In this project, we will investigate this from the scale of pores up to storage reservoirs (km-scale). This will be done through gas injection experiments in rock samples visualized by micro-computed tomography, for which the post-doctoral researcher will be mainly responsible, combined with numerical analysis on different scales (for which a PhD student will be hired). This will give novel insights on the impact of salt crystallization on these promising energy storage technologies.