Contact Details

Telephone

work +44 (0)1224 272977

Email

amin.sharifi@abdn.ac.uk

Address

The University of Aberdeen Room FN147
School of Engineering
King's College
University of Aberdeen
Aberdeen AB24 3UE United Kingdom
 

Biography

PhD, Engineering, University of Calgary

MEng, Engineering, University of Calgary

Recipient of the College of Physical Sciences Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2017.

Research Interests

• Fluid flow in subsurface complex channels and porous media (Naturally fractured reservoirs & Shales)
• Mechanics of non-Newtonian fluids (Suspensions, Foams and Nanofluids) in wellbores
• Thermal/chemical enhanced oil recovery processes

Current Research

• Developing FUSim, a Fracture Upscaling Simulator, to predict the flow path of fluids in hydraulically fractured rocks. The use of this simulator can reduce the cost up to 20% by giving the best configuration of flow directions.

• Understanding the rheology and dynamics of foam and emulsions

  

• Nanofluid suspensions for hole cleaning operations in wellbores

• Hybrid thermal/chemical enhanced oil recovery from fractured reservoirs2

  

Research Grants

• A joint industry project on flow dynamics of suspensions and foams in wells, funded by four companies based in the UK and US, 2020-2021
• A collaborative project on the dynamics of non-Newtonian suspensions (Nano-enhanced fluids) in mud flow in drilling operations with Egyptian Petroleum Research Institute, funded by BEIS & British Council, 2019-2021
• Development of a software package for optimisation of heat generation and flowrate in cementing jobs in wells, funded by Oil and Gas Innovation Centre & Deltatek, 2019
• An investigation on the emulsions phase behaviour and their stability in the presence of nanomaterials, funded by CONACyT, Mexico, 2018-2021
• A study on the use of foams and suspensions for enhancing vertical flows in wells, funded by CONACyT, Mexico, 2018-2021
• Application of nanotechnology in oil recovery, funded by The Royal Society, 2017-2018
• A project on the investigation of foam rheology and dynamics at reservoir conditions, funded by The Carnegie Trust, 2017-2018
• Modelling of oil recovery processes through smart waterflooding, funded by Ghana Education Trust fund, 2017-2021
• Environmentally Friendly drilling fluid design for directional and deepwater drillings, funded by Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education, 2016-2020

Teaching Responsibilities

Courses taught:

Undergraduate level:

EG55HI: Enhanced Oil Recovery 

EG4013: MEng Individual Project

EP3595: Drilling and Well Engineering

Postgraduate level:

EG551W: Well & Production Engineering

EG551R/EG502B: Field Development & Petroleum Economics

EG501Y/EG55Q1: Enhanced Oil Recovery

Teaching Leadership:

UG Level 2 Coordinator for Engineering programmes

Deputy Programme Coordinator for MSc Oil and Gas Engineering 

Workshops and Talks:

• Petroleum Engineering Capacity Development-Unconventional Reservoirs

PetroChina-Canada, Calgary September 2014

• Invited talk on Enhanced Oil Recovery Methods (EOR)

Subsea Engineering Program, Aberdeen November 2016

•  Short course:An Introduction to Drilling in Heavy Oil, Oil Sands, Shale Gas Fields

EU funded capacity building project with University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) Tanzania, Aberdeen April 2017

People

Principal Investigator:

Dr Amin Sharifi 

I am an academic in the School of Engineering at the University of Aberdeen. My primary research interests are the experimental/theoretical analysis of fluid dynamics in subsurface rocks and wellbores.

The applications of such studies are in developing solutions for oil/gas recovery from unconventional shale and heavy oil reservoirs, flow enhacements in wells using suspensions, hole cleaning in drilling operations using nanofluids etc.

I work closely with local and international industry from Africa, Middle East, and North America to address the current problems in oil and gas industry and explore future opportunities. Before joining the University of Aberdeen, I worked on heavy oil recovery modelling and optimisation in collaboration with Devon Energy and Petroleum Technology Research Centre where we developed an in-house simulator for CHOPS reservoirs. 

Current members:

Dr Natalie Boyou

 

Dr Boyou joined the research team in 2019 as postdoctoral fellow. She recievd her PhD in Petroleum Engineering at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in 2019, and her research focuses on nano-enhanced suspensions for wellbore cleaning in directional drilling. She obtained a B.Sc. in Physics with Electronics and an M.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering. 

 

Rizky Novara

Rizky obtained his BSc in Petroleum Engineering from ITB (Bandung Institute of Technology), Indonesia, in 2011. Then he received his MSc in Oil and Gas Engineering from the University of Aberdeen, 2014. He worked with LAPI-ITB, a foundation for research and industrial affiliation, conducting projects for oil industry in Indonesia, and as an academic assistant at the ITB before starting his PhD at the University of Aberdeen. He studies the application of nanoparticles in drilling fluids for deepwater drilling operations and in the Arctic conditions.

 

Ahmed Bashir

Ahmed received his BSc in Petroleum Engineering with a first class degree from University of Khartoum (2009) and completed his MSc in Environmental and Natural Resource Engineering at the University of Nottingham with distinction (2013). He worked as a well testing specialist in ASAWER Oil & Gas Company, and as a lecturer at the Dept of Petroleum Eng (U Khartoum) Sudan, before joining our group at the University of Aberdeen. His research focuses on the experimental investigation of foam rheology and its application in enhanced oil recovery processes from unconventional reservoirs.

 

Joseph Sherratt

Joe re-joined us in April 2017. He got his MSc in Reservoir Engineering form the School of Geosciences at the University of Aberdeen in November 2016. He previously studied Geophysics at Imperial College London where he discovered his interest in numerical modelling, and his current studies, he is developing models and tools for flow dynamics in hydraulically fractured rocks. He won the Best MSc thesis award in 2016.

 

 

Lawrence Boampong

Lawrence started his PhD in October 2017. He obtained a BSc in Petroleum Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana, in 2012. In 2014, he acquired his Master’s degree in Oil and Gas Engineering from the University of Aberdeen, UK. He worked for Schlumberger (sand control management) before re-joining to Aberdeen to work on Low Salinity Waterflooding project.

 

Talal Mostafa 

Talal rejoined the University of Aberdeen in October 2017 to pursue his PhD on the dynamics of two-phase flow in complex channels. In his research project, the aim is to find a flow model for predicting immiscible displacement process in subsurface porous media (e.g. in oil recovery and soil remediation). He received his Bachelor's degree from University College London in Civil and Environmental Engineering, and a Master's degree from the University of Aberdeen in Petroleum Engineering. 

 

Linda Tatiana Lezama

Tatiana received her Bachelor’s & Master’s degrees in Petroleum Engineering, from the Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon (UANL) and the University of Aberdeen respectively. Before joining to our group, she worked in Halliburton and Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), with the Coiled Tubing Services and the Formation and Reservoir Solutions teams. She is currently studying the phase behaviour of emulsion systems, aiming to reduce the environmental impact of hazardous chemicals in oil and gas industry. 

 

David Vazquez

David received his Bachelore's Degree in Petroleum Engieering from Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon in Mexico. He worked with Schlumberger at the Gulf of Mexico and with Grupo R on projects with PEMEX. He then joined the University of Aberdeen for his Master's in Petroleum Engineering, and upon completion of his degree in 2018, he started his PhD research project on dynamics of foams and emulsions in wellbores. His research goal is to enhance the flow potentials in water loaded wells using suspensions.  

 

Mohamed Reyani

Mohamed joined our group in 2020, he received his Bachelore's degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Universty of Leeds and completed his Master's in International Oil & Gas Management at the University of Dundee. He worked as subsurface petroleum engineer at Sirte Oil Company for 3 years before joing the Universty of Aberdeen. In his PhD he investigate the physicochemical characteristics of emulsions and their flow dynamics in rocks.

 

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Visiting Scholar

Natalie Boyou

Natalie was a visiting PhD student in our group from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. She visited us in summer 2018.

 

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Former research students

    

Joseph Sherratt

MSc Reservoir Engineering, University of Aberdeen, 2016.

BSc Geophysics, Imperial College London, 2015. Currenlty at the University of Aberdeen (PhD student).

 

Rafael Osorio

Rafael graduated with a BSc in Petroleum Engineering from the National University of Engineering in Peru and worked over 4 years in Geoscience and Reservoir Engineering areas before joining the University of Aberdeen. He received his MSc in Petroleum Engineering from the University of Aberdeen in November 2016 and his research was focused on reservoir characterisation through well test analysis. He developed a new series of type curves for characterisation of channelised heterolithic beds. 

Currently with USITEM - Chesterton (Fluid Sealing Specialist).

 

William Cardno

William was a master's of Chemical Enginering student at the Universty of Aberdeen. He workded on foam dynamics for a year in our research group and received his MEng degree with distinction in 2019. He is currently a process engineer with Optimus Aberdeen Ltd.

 

Publications 

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