PoroMechanics Institute
University of Oklahoma
Problems
The PoroMechanics Institute (PMI), established in 1996, serves as a multidisciplinary research unit with focus on the understanding and application of the mechanics of fluid‐ saturated porous media in general and the investigation of rock mechanics as applied to the oil and gas industry problems in particular. PMI major funding is generated from two industrial consortia: the Rock Mechanics Consortium (RMC) and the GeoGenome™ Industry Consortium (G2IC), which together count 15 industry members. PMI provides state‐of‐the‐art MTS frames and facilities for rock mechanics testing.
Approach
The PoroMechanics Institute will host two‐day consortia annual meetings in the summer of 2009 with more than 60 scientists and engineers expected to attend from the industry and OU. New releases of PMI software packages are planned for the month of June 2009.
Findings
- The GeoGenome™ Industry Consortium (G²IC) established in 2005 was renewed for three more years (Phase II) at $1.1M till 2011, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as a partner. The G2IC Phase II industry members include: ConocoPhillips (USA), Ecopetrol ICP (Colombia), JOGMEC (Japan), Halliburton (USA), StatoilHydro (Norway), Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia), and Total (France).
- Over the past three years (2005‐2008) PMI has increased its annual research expenditures to over $700,000 generated mostly through the oil and gas majors and the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology (OCAST).
- Dr. Dean S. Oliver, Professor and Mewbourne Chair, accepted the position of Associate Director of PMI. Details on his "OU Consortium on Ensemble Methods," are available on this web site www.oucem.ou.edu.
Impact
The PoroMechanics Institute through its industry consortia has established technology transfer mechanisms through national and international strategic research partnerships. These partners, members of our consortia, include Total, ConocoPhillips, etc. The web site of the institute, www.pmi.ou.edu, has a complete list. In addition, one of the consortia, the G2 IC, in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is using advances in nanotechnology to characterize rocks at a scale never attempted before. This PMI and MIT collaboration, now in its fifth year, has provided opportunities for graduate students from both institutes to exchange very beneficial stay time at MIT and OU, respectively. In addition, summer internships with the industry for our graduate students have been another trade mark of the PoroMechanics Institute partnership with industry.
The mathematical solutions developed by the PoroMechanics Institute scientists have found their way into packaged deliverables used by the industry engineers and scientists nationally and internationally. These deliverables over the past eight years, as part of the institute's technology transfer mission, have proven to be of great benefit to the industry engineering applications. The continued use of the updated version of these products is proof of the impact that the PoroMechanics Institute has on the industry‐related engineering field and laboratory applications
Core competencies
- Leading group in analytical solutions in Poromechanics such as wellbore stability
- Innovative nanotechnology applications in rock testing and characterization
- Naturally fractured reservoir geomechanics and wellbore stability in fractured shale
- Innovative shale testing and IDSTDTM
- Rock mechanics characterization