Dr. Jenn-Tai Liang

JENN-TAI LIANGIdaho National Engineering & Environmental LaboratoryLockheed Martin Idaho Technologies CompanyP. O. Box 1625Idaho Falls, ID 83415-2110Tele: (208) 526-5232Fax: (208) 526-9288

Dr. Jenn-Tai Liang of TORP and the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Kansas, working in conjunction with the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory recently was awarded funding from the National Petroleum Technology Office of the U.S. Department of Energy to study the use of biosurfactants produced from agricultural waste streams to improve oil recovery in fractured carbonate reservoirs.

Dr. Jenn-Tai Liang was recently hired as an Associate Professor of the Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department at the University of Kansas. His plans are to work closely with the Tertiary Oil Recovery Project (TORP) and develop research projects that will benefit the oil and gas operators of Kansas. He was also hired to eventually assume a leadership position in sustaining and developing TORP activities. Prior to joining KU, Dr. Liang was an Advisory Engineer at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Lab (INEEL) in charge of research activities in the upstream E&P and environmental areas. He holds a Ph.D. degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, an MS degree in mineral engineering from the University of Alabama, and a BS degree in chemistry from Tamkang University in Taiwan. His broad-based R&D experience includes: Improved techniques for water shutoff and fluid diversion in oil and gas recovery processes, Enhanced coal bed methane (CBM) recovery, Environmental impact of CBM-produced water, CO2 sequestration in geologic formations, as well as CO2 direct capture and separation techniques.

Jenn-Tai Liang, associate professor of chemical and petroleum engineering, and his fellow researchers may be able to change that.

Thanks to a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, Liang will be able to study the use of molecules called biosurfacants to recover oil from reservoirs in carbonate rock.
...
Liang said that while a goal of the project was to make the technology available to private enterprise, that wasn't why the Department of Energy was funding the project.

“The DOE is particularly interested in the environmental aspect of the project,†Liang said. “Their entire mission is advocating the beneficial reuse of organic materials to produce energy.â€

Working with the KU School of Engineering's Tertiary Oil Recovery Project and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory, Liang will study how dilute concentrations of biosurfacant interact with carbonate reservoirs and how much oil can be drawn with their use.

Jenn-Tai Liang, Associate Professor of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Water shutoff and conformance control in both fractured and unfractured reservoirs.Simulation and experimental studies of the sequestration of CO2 in depleted oil and gas reservoir, unminable coal seams, EOR applications.Direct capture of CO2 and flue gas from power-plant emission.