DeepNL grant for Dr. Miocic

Dr. Johannes Miocic of the Energy and Sustainability Research Institute Groningen ( ESRIG ) has been awarded a DeepNL grant by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). The grant of EUR 750,000 is for his project ‘The role of heterogeneity in controlling the geomechanical behaviour of sandstone reservoirs’.

The earthquakes in the Groningen area are due to sandstone compacting as a result of gas removal. The compaction process depends on the type of sand grains, their shape, the space between the grains, and minerals cementing the grains together – in other words, the petrography. Miocic will use microscopical and chemical analyses as well as compaction experiments to study these aspects in Groningen sandstone samples. This will allow computer predictions of the petrography of the whole area. The results will help forecast where the sandstone is likely to compact in the future and thus where subsidence could occur.

DeepNL

The aim of DeepNL is to contribute to a better understanding of how the deep subsurface behaves under the influence of human interventions.