Bits, Bytes, Barrels : Computational Technology in Shell

Do you know how much computation goes on for extraction of 1 barrel of oil, and how has this evolved over the past decades? How has the growing IT infrastructure changed the way we look at things in the Oil and Energy industry? This talk highlights ongoing research activities in the Computational Center of Expertise in Shell, spanning across multi-disciplinary teams, with examples ranging from applying high performance computing in geophysics to probing fluid-structure interactions and designing catalytic surfaces.

This talk also addresses the critical role materials play in the Energy industry: why do some materials catalyze a certain set of reactions while others dont? Why do some liquids stick to certain material surfaces and not on others? Can we understand and predict this intrinsic materials behavior from computations, and can this understanding be leveraged for tailoring new materials for industrial applications?

Examples include our current work in Shell on understanding catalysts, as well as my earlier work from GE on designing superhydrophobic coatings, designing H2S-resistant coatings, modeling corrosion and making materials stronger through grain boundaries and interface engineering.

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