Post-doctoral position: Thermal expansion of adsorbing microporous media
and application to clay desiccation
Supervisors: L. Brochard; M. Vandamme; I. Stefanou; S. Ghabezloo and M.
Bornert
Key words: poromechanics, adsorption, molecular simulation, clay
desiccation, statistical physics
Laboratoire Navier at Ecole des Ponts ParisTech is seeking a
post-doctoral fellow to work on the thermo-mechanical couplings in
microporous media with application to clay desiccation.
Clays are nanostructured microporous materials that contain adsorbed
water. Clay hydration and dehydration is well known to induce important
deformations of the material that may end up to instabilities such as
desiccation cracking of soils in dry conditions. Cracking of clay-rich
rocks can be detrimental (building foundation, nuclear waste or CO2
storage, well stability) or beneficial (enhanced fluid transfers for
geothermal energy and hydrocarbon recovery). More generally adsorption
in microporous solids is known to induce unusual deformations, with
large shrinkage or swelling. At the same time, because of their
intrinsic heat of adsorption, or because of external heat stimulations
(nuclear wastes, industrial processes), microporous solids are often
subjected to important temperature variations; which means that their
deformation is a complex interplay between temperature, solid mechanics
and adsorption. The TEAM2ClayDesicc project, funded by the French
National Research Agency (ANR), will focus on the physics of thermal
expansion of adsorbing microporous media, in particular clays, with
application to the thermal stimulation of clay-rich shales.
In the framework of this project, we offer a two-year postdoc position,
which takes place at the beginning of the project, and will be dedicated
to the study of thermal expansion of adsorbing media by molecular
simulation in order to develop analytical models capturing the coupling
between adsorption and thermal expansion. Special attention will be paid
to the physical mechanisms that are relevant for clays. Apart from the
implementation of numerical molecular simulations of model and more
realistic systems, this postdoc will strongly connect to poromechanics,
thermodynamics and statistical physics. The outcomes of this work will
be used in the following of the project for investigations at larger scales.
This position will be hosted in Navier Laboratory, at the Ecole
Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Champs-sur-Marne (east of Paris).
The position starts in January 2015 with possibility to adapt the
starting date if needed. Applicants should hold a PhD degree in physics,
mechanics or related areas with a competitive track record. Candidates
must be skilled in numerical scientific computing and have preferably
had previous experience in molecular simulation. Knowledge of
statistical physics, adsorption, clay minerals, or poromechanics is
preferred. Applicants must be capable to communicate in good English,
including the oral and written presentation of research papers.
Interested applicants should contact L. Brochard
([log in to unmask]).
Best regards
Laurent Brochard
--
Laurent Brochard
Chercheur IPEF
(+33) 1 64 15 37 88
[log in to unmask]
-------------------------------------
Institut Navier
Ecole des Ponts ParisTech
6 et 8 avenue Blaise-Pascal
Cite Descartes - Champs-sur-Marne
F - 77455 Marne-la-Vallee cedex 2
www.enpc.fr
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