Maša Prodanović

Professor, Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering

The University of Texas at Austin

Computing properties such as (relative) permeability, diffusion coefficients or electrical resistivity of rocks based on images (e.g. X-ray or scanning electron microscopy) of their microstructure has recently been a popular, alas computationally intensive, framework for data-based upscaling of such properties that complement and explain lab results. However, employing them efficiently on a large number of samples, such as those acquired in an exploration well, and in sufficient number of scenarios, in order to assess uncertainty or explore parameter space, depends on the ability to cut down the computational time.  We have made a significant progress in employing scientific machine/deep learning algorithms and have cut down permeability estimation from 8+ hours down to seconds.  We further present the latest work on estimating electrical properties as well as diffusion coefficients in reactive flow (Marcato et al. submitted) using similar approaches. In combination with data hosted in Digital Rocks Portal and open-source code, this research paves the way to an environment that directly links data (often indeed big data on small scales), high performance computing simulation, deep learning prediction as well as automated collection of the data into a searchable library. Last but not the least, the concepts are applicable beyond rocks to estimating properties of other complex/porous structures such as foams, batteries or fuel cells, and micro-vascular networks.

Biography

Maša Prodanović is a Frank W. Jessen Professor in Hildebrand Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering (PGE), The University of Texas at Austin. She is an applied mathematician-turned-engineer and has expertise in direct simulation of flow and particulate transport in porous and fractured media, porous media characterization especially based on 2D and 3D images of rock microstructure, unconventional resources and data curation. She is a recipient of multiple awards such as InterPore Medal for Porous Media Research in 2022, SPE Distinguished Member Award in 2021, EAGE Alfred Wegener Award in 2021, SPE Formation Evaluation regional award for development of Digital Rocks Portal in 2019, Texas 10 (top faculty) and Stony Brook 40 Under Forty awards in 2017, SPE Faculty Innovative Teaching Award in 2014 and Interpore Procter & Gamble Research Award for Porous Media Research in 2014. She was elected Interpore Society Council member & SIAM Geosciences Program Director 2021-23.