[CCoE Notice] Colloquium Announcement * September 10, 2010 * Joyce Wong * Schlumberger Research, Cambridge, MA

[Lewis, Lindsay R]

***** Colloquium *****
Center for Integrated Bio and Nano Systems
Houston Chapter of IEEE Nanotechnology Council and Houston Chapter of IEEE Magnetics Society
Friday, September 10, 2010
12:30 p.m. (Refreshments served at noon)
Room: W122 Building D3

Oil reservoir characterization challenges & Nanoscale probes for fluid studies

Joyce Wong

Schlumberger Research, Cambridge, MA

The fluid properties in porous materials involve small length scales where the behavior of the fluid is expected to differ from its bulk properties.  For oilfield applications, a fundamental understanding of fluid properties in reservoir rocks is critical for formation characterization.  Given that the pore size in rocks vary from micro- to nanometer scale depending on the reservoir type, it would be greatly beneficial to study the behavior of fluids in individual nanopores or around objects at the nanoscale.  However, developing nanoscale probes that can act as fluid property sensors without perturbing the fluid flow remains challenging.  With advances in nanofabrication techniques, the study of fluid dynamics around a nano-object or in a nanochannel is now more accessible experimentally and has become an active field of research.

In this talk, some of the challenges in reservoir characterization will be outlined, which include measuring reservoir properties beyond the wellbore, determining 3-D distribution of reservoir fluids and rocks, and the dynamic paths of reservoir fluids.  In addition, our work in developing carbon-nanotube based probes to study ionic and fluidic transport [1] will be discussed.  Furthermore, a second effort in using an optical trapping technique to study fluid behavior in a microfluidic channel [2] will be described.

[1] B. Bourlon, J. Wong, C. Miko, L. Forro, M. Bockrath, "A nanoscale probe for fluidic and ionic transport," Nature Nanotech., 2, 104-107 (2007).
[2] E. Schonbrun, J. Wong, K. B. Crozier, "Co- and cross-flow extensions in an elliptical optical trap," Phys. Rev. E, 79, 042401 (2009).

Bio of Dr. Wong:

Joyce Wong is a Principal Research Scientist in the Sensor Physics Department at Schlumberger's research center in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  She is also a Visiting Associate at the California Institute of Technology, where she received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering.  Since joining Schlumberger in 2000, her research interest involves applying various micro- and nano-technologies for sensing applications in downhole environments.  In collaboration with colleagues at the research and technology centers as well as several university research groups, Joyce has worked on topics including microelectromechanical sensors for harsh environments, microfluidic lab-on-a-chip, carbon nanotube based probes, and silicon nanophotonic devices for a variety of sensing applications.  Within the technical communities of Schlumberger, Joyce is also currently a co-leader of the Micro-Nano-Technologies special interest group which facilitates knowledge sharing among its members through workshops and seminars on emerging topics related to micro- and nano-technologies.

Contact Prof. Jiming Bao (jbao at uh.edu <mailto:kmartirossian at uh.edu> ) if you would like to arrange for a time to meet with Dr. Wong.





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