R E R I

RERI is a nonprofit research and educational organization which was founded in January 1990 to carry out in-depth research in some key areas of petroleum reservoir engineering. The institute has evolved as a world leader in the areas of thermodynamics of hydrocarbon reservoirs and production, gas injection processes, and fractured and layered reservoirs.

Experimental, theoretical, and numerical research are conducted at RERI. Laboratory research work is performed at our laboratory equipped with high pressure visual coreholder and flooding apparatus which can house several large-size matrix blocks.

The research projects are divided into two main categories:

• Thermodynamics
• Fluid Flow

Irreversible thermodynamics, interfacial thermodynamics and bulk-phase equilibrium thermodynamics cover research projects related to kinetics of hydrate, wax, and asphaltene precipitation and deposition, compositional variation in hydrocarbon reservoirs, gas condensate reservoirs, and cold production in heavy oil reservoirs, as well as efficient computations for hydrocarbon reservoir simulations.

Fluid flow mainly focuses on multiphase multicomponent flow in both fractured/layered and homogenous media. Issues related to natural depletion, gas injection and water injection are addressed. Effect of capillarity on flow in fractured porous media is the focus of research. Another important project is the alteration of wettability to intermediate and complete gas-wetting of porous media for a wide range of applications. Recently, we have embarked on a project to establish the reservoir properties from the gravitational potential variation of the sun and the moon.

Professor Firoozabadi is the principal investigator of the above research projects. Several scientists, post doctoral fellows, visiting scientists, and Ph.D. students' work comprise the research led at RERI.

Applicants with high skills in the areas of fluid flow, thermodynamics, and applied mathematics, with a Ph.D. degree in Petroleum, Chemical, or Mechanical Engineering, and other related disciplines are encouraged to apply. We also offer the opportunity for visiting scientists from other countries to work on well-defined research projects which cover specific challenges for periods ranging from 2 to 8 months.

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