6.-15.5.2014

Field Seminar in Scotland

We returned home safely from our one week field seminar around Glen Coe, Scotland. Despite midges factor 4 to 5 on a scale of 1 to 5, all students coped well with harsh conditions. Physically and mentally strong, we climbed some mountains even when within clouds. As always, temperature dropped upon arrival but 15 deg C and slight showers showed to be excellent conditions for field work. Dalradian rocks along the Great Glen strike slip faults were intensly deformed during Caledonian orogenesis, metamorphosed during subduction and penetrated by plutons and covered by Devonian volcanics. Old Red sediments in W-Scotland were compared to the Devonian Aachen rocks, and the location of paleo-continents were discussed.

28.-30.5.2014

Presentation at Burlington House, London

Benni gave a talk on his research of flow heterogeneities Rotliegend sandstones. The conference on Reservoir Quality of Clastic and Carbonate Rocks: Analysis, Modelling and Prediction at the Geological Society, Burlington House, London. The conference seeks to address the factors and processes controlling rock properties of clastic and carbonate rocks as well as showcase novel analytical techniques and demonstrate diagenetic modelling capability. He is invited to submit a peer reviewed paper.

9.4.2014

our students on WDR TV

Today we were on air with our students on WDR TV, promoting the Lehmjoeres hike around Stolberg-Vicht. The village Vicht is located 2 km south of Stolberg and 5 km ESE Aachen and stretches along the river Vicht. It not only displays the strong relation of geology and industrial development, but is the origin of Germany’s industrial culture, which from the Aachen-Stolberg region later moved to the Rur area and established the Ruhr district, Europe’s largest industrial center. A brief overview of the geology and industrial devlopment can be found here.

1.4.2014

New Senior Researcher Ulrike Hilse at RPR

We welcome Ulrike as our new senior researcher at Reservoir-Petrology. Ulrike obtained her profound knowledge on variious analytical technqiues of siliciclastic rocks at Jena University. We are happy to have her on board and look forward on her contributions to structural diagenesis.

24.3-27.3.2014

Touchstone Shortcourse

Rob Lander and Linda Bonnell from Geocosm, Colorado, run a Basic- and Advanced Course in Resevoir Quality Prediction Modeling at our department for our students doing a petrography based final thesis and industry representatives. Knowing the mineralogical compositon of rocks, their thermal exposure and facies distribution, the software predicts scenarios of reservoir quality based on the kinetics of reaction rates. We are happy that Geocosm provides licenses to carry out research at Reservoir-Petrology.

10.3-21.3.2014

Rotliegend Convential Reservoir Analog, England

Benni is out with two Bachelor students to study Rotliegend sandstones in the UK. We study the variation of sedimentary units deposited in an eolian setting and the impact of grain coats on pore space cemenation and implement data in reservoir-quality prediction modeling.

4.3-21.3.2014

Upper Carboniferous Tight Gas Rocks

Patrick is out with three Bachelor students to study Upper Carboniferous sandstones near Albringhausen and Piesberg, northwest Germany. We study the variation of sedimentary units deposited in a river system, pore space cemenation, the spatial fracture distribution and the cementation of of fractures and faults.

25.-27.2.2014

Presentation at SPE meeting, Vienna

Patrick presented his first results at the SPE/EAGE European Unconventional Conference and Exhibition held in Vienna, Austria. His associated 10-pages paper number SPE 167793 by Wuestefeld et al. is entitled "Reservoir Heterogeneity in Upper Carboniferous Tight Gas Sandstones: Lessons Learned From an Analog Study".

3.2.2014

GoEast DAAD scholarships for Azerbaijan

Please note that the DAAD Go East program will fund 10 scholarships for German students attending the winter oil summerschool in Baku, Azerbaijan. The winter oil school will be held in Baku from March 3-15, 2014. Application deadline is Februrary 10, 2014. Please check the DAAD website and www.daadwss.com for further details.

28.1.2014

SPE - Society of Petroleum Engineers Student Chapter kicked-off

Today our EMR-Students kicked off their RWTH SPE-student chapter, supported by SPE's German Section and our faculty, and submitted their proposal to SPE's headquarter. SPE with it's app 100,000 members provides a worldwide network with peers and industry professionals and supports student chapters at Universities with Upstream-related Master courses. Our MSc Applied Geosciences - Energy & Mineral Resources Stream and our joint MSc Applied Geophysics with TU Delft and ETH Zurich fullfill the requirements and we are looking forward for the RWTH chapter to be accrediated by SPE's headquarter. Christoph Hilgers initated the establishment of a student chapter at RWTH when he took EMR-MSc students to the SPE-STC 2013 meeting.

25.1.2014

Mudlogging student interns needed

A deep well planned for April & May 2014 needs mudloggers, that is you, our MSc students with microscopy skills. The deep well is drilled into a salt dome in Northern Germany. Such drilling is required for either energy exploration or energy storage, both key aspects driving the country's economy. On-site shifts allow you to validate the lithologies drilled and test the subsurface model. If you are interested in some hands-on experience, please contact us at RPR or get in touch with our SPE student chapter.

8.-11.1.2014

Kick-off meeting in Azerbaijan

We recently were awarded a grant by the VolkswagenStiftung to further discuss our interdisciplinary transnational project with Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, which is hosted under the scheme "Environment, natural resources and renewable energies - Interdisciplinary transboundary research on human-envirnmental interactions". Our proposal entitled "Geological and geochemical aspects of natural hydrocarbon seepage from mud volcanoes and its socio-economic impact on anthropogenic spills" addresses the full sequence from natural sciences to socio-economic reserach. Christoph Hilgers had very fruitfrul discussions with our partners from ADA University and Kazakhstan in beautiful Baku, Azerbaijan, an old city next to the Caspian Sea and located on the silk way. 

29.11.2013

Panel discussion at the EME Research Area, School of Business and Economics

Today Chris attends a panel discussion at EON ERC, RWTH Aachen University. Together with Prof. de Donker, Prof. Schüttrumpf, OI Randaxhe and Dr. Vogt, chaired by Prof. Madlener, selected real world ultra-long infrastructure investments are exposed from an electrical-engineering, civil-engineering, mining-engineering, geophysical and geological perspective, and discussed with the audience.

07.11.2013

Our RWTH Applied Geoscience students on air

Today our students will be on air at WDR TV, entitled Excursions to the crater rim of Stromboli, talking about their field trip exploring Italy's active volcanoes and studying rocks and slabbed see-through rock sections under the microscope. "Die Exkursionen mit Professor Hilgers, die sind nichts für Unsportliche, denn es geht immer ganz hoch hinaus .. so wie bei der letzten Exkursion, da kletterten sie auf die kleinen Vulkaninseln oberhalb von Sizilien - ein Ort an dem die Erde Feuer spuckt (from WDR TV)". Earth's life wouldn't been there without volcanoes, whose gas eruptions provided the water of the sea as well as sulphur- and carbon dioxide protecting earth from cooling. The evolution of plants consumed CO2 and provides oxygen we breathe. Although sometimes devasting, the movement of plate tectonics causing earthquakes and volcanic eruptions is an integral part to enable life on earth. A long-lasting global gas cycle of temporarilly increased CO2 expulsion causes a change of climate and leads to increased rock weathering, which in turn ties more CO2 into the sediment. The eruption frequency of our intracontinental Eifel volcanoes, generally dormant for 10s of thousands of years before the next devasting eruption, luckily this is much longer than the hourly erupting Stromboli and decade erupting Etna volcanoes in southern Italy (Link to TV Website).

30.10.2013

presentation at TU Delft

Today Chris gave a presentation on oinging RPR research at the SPARKS colloqium at Petroleum Engineering and Geosciences at TU Delft on "Subseismic to microscale poro-perm reservoir heterogeneities from field- and experimental studies", followed by disucssions on future collaborations. Collaboration between TU Delft and RWTH Aachen has been established via the joint MSc Applied Geophysics between TU Delft, ETH Zurich and RWTH Aachen, to which RPR contributes.

24.-25.10.2013

SPE conference

We will join the two-day SPE Society of Petroleum Engineers conference held in Germany. Besides an overview of ongoing applied research of different institutions, three of our Master students will explore the potential job opportunities in the E&P industry.

17.10.2013

Upper Carboniferous Quarry, Rhenish Massif

We will meet with the Geological Survey GD and representatives of the University of Bochum in the field to study a quarry of Upper Carboniferous unconventional reservoir rocks and discuss further collaborative research.

30.9.2013

Kick-off meeting at Wintershall

Today we kick-off two long-term research projects with our colleages at Winterhsall, focusing on the tighs reservoir rocks and the implications of coating on reservoir quality. The projects are settled in a bundle of projects on integrated low perm systems (ilops). Further projects by the EMR group will contribute to a better understanding of future reservoir rocks.

28.9.2013

Active Volcanoes field Trip

Today we returned from our one-week field trip climbing the volcanoes of the Aeolian Islands Vulcano, Lipari and Stromboli and Mt. Etna. We measured the temperatures and gas emissions of CO2, H2S and SO2 in the field, and discussed the formation of of volcanoes related to plate tectonics and geochemistry, as well as mineral dissolutions and precipitations.

19.9.2013

Visit of CEMEX quarry

We are delighted to present our results on rock alterations and rock parameters at CEMEX near Osnabrueck. Data can be used for the improvement of reservoir exploarations, as well as mining aspects. We are looking forward for continuing collaboration.

18.9.2013

Presentation at Geofluids Conference

Today Reservoir-Petrology RPR contributed with two oral presentations and one poster to the Geologische Vereinigung GV & Deutsche Mineralogische Gesellschaft DMG Annual Meeting "Geofluids: Lubricants of the Earth" in Tuebingen. Patrick Wuestefeld (RPR) presented ongoing work on "Structural Diagenesis in an Upper Carboniferous Tight Gas Sands Reservoir Analogue, Piesberg Quarry, NW-Germany", with co-authors M. Höhne, P. Steindorf, B. Koehrer, P. Bertier, K. Schurk, C. Hilgers. Stephan Becker (RPR) followed with research on "Reservoir Quality in the A2C-Stringer interval of the late Neoproterozoic Ara-Group of the South Oman Salt Basin: Diagenetic relationships in space and time" with co-authors Lars Reuning, Peter A. Kukla, Steffen Abe, Shiyuan Li, Janos L. Urai, Suleiman Farqani, Gideon Lopes Cardozo, Zuwena Rawahi. Benjamin Busch (RPR) presented the poster by Annett Hufe (now with Wintershall), Benjamin Busch, Helge Stanjek, Christoph Hilgers on "Diffusion-controlled cementation experiments of salts in porous rock analogs using transparent microreactors".

14.9.2013

SW-England Reservoir-Geology Field Seminar

Today all students returned home from our Reservoir-Geology field seminar in SW-England. Starting eastwards along the Bristol Channel, and crossing England westwards along the Bristish Channel, we studied and correlated siliciclastic Rotliegend and fractured carbonate reservoir rocks, Kimmeridge and other oil shales, as well as Cretaceous at Lulworth. Oil sands and and oil dripping from the cliffs were sampled for further analyses of our Organic Geochemistry course with Prof. Jan Schwarzbauer. Many thanks to Benni and Gunnar for bringing students home safely and the continuous support during the field classes.

16.7.2013

15. Aachener Altlasten- und Berschadenkundliches Kolloqium ABK

A colloqium will be presented on July 16th 2013 at RWTH Aachen University on "Fracking and no end" in the frame of the 15. Aachener Altlasten- und Berschadenkundliches Kolloqium ABK. Various experts from different disciplines will present aspects such as: authorities view, different techniques, legal challenges, dialog process, and implications for research. Registration until 1.7.2013 per fax at GDMB Gesellschaft für Metallurgen und Bergleute e.V., more informations at www.abk.gdmb.de Reservoir-Petrology contributes with colleagues on the Directions of future research on fracking

Am 16. Juli 2013 findet das 15. Aachener Altlasten- und Berschadenkundliches Kolloqium ABK zum Thema "Fracking und kein Ende" an der RWTH Aachen statt. Dabei werden von Referenten unterschiedlichster Fachdisziplinen folgende Aspekte präsentiert: Behördliche Sicht, die unterschiedlichen Verfahren, rechtliche Herausforderungen, der Dialogprozess und Implikationen für die Forschung. Die Anmeldung erfolgt per Fax bei der GDMB Gesellschaft für Metallurgen und Bergleute e.V. bis zum 1.7.2013 entgegen genommen, weitere Informationen unter www.abk.gdmb.de. Die Reservoir-Petrologie trägt mit dem Thema Beitrag zukünftiger Forschung zum Thema Fracking bei.

5.7.2013

Faculty's teaching award to Christoph Hilgers

Today the faculty's teaching award was granted to Christoph Hilgers for his excellence of his lectures and field seminars.  In his laudatio, the Dean educ. Prof. Dr. Christoph Schneider cited from the student council's recommendation letter and students comments on the evaluation sheets: "... he puts a high workload on us and expects a lot ... due to the integrated approach, I had to apply all what I learned before ... I never learned more in such short time .. he thinks that there's only Reservoir-Geology .... when we repeated the course content in the field, I understood ... field trips are quite different compared to others, visiting not more than 3 exposures a day, students are splitted up in teams and guided to discover and explore ...". Chris likes to thank the nomination committee of the Faculty for Georesrouces and Materials Engineering for being granted the award, and the students for their support.

6.6.2013

Geological Survey NRW

Today we discuss and exchange ideas on Upper Carboniferous rocks with the state's geological survey in Krefeld, NRW. Siliciclastic Upper Carboniferous rocks comprise hard coal and organic rich shales, as well as tight sandstones, and thus a huge potential of unconventional reservoirs. The Aachen-Wurm Revier is one of the world's oldest subsurface coal mine areas, with first records dated more than 900 years ago.

27.5.2013

visit of Harun at RPR

Today Harun Cekir, currently at Wintershall, visited RPR, comparing with Mareen the alteration and diagenesis of Upper Carboniferous siliciclastic rocks from surface exposures near Osnabrück and subsurface well data. Exposed rocks a generally alterated and expose a higher porosity than those located at depth. Thus, core data from wells are required to better predict subsurface processes.

19.-25.5.2013

Scotland 2013

Our 2nd year EMR BSc students went on their compulsory field trip to Scotland. After a short introduction to the Glen Coe Caldera, fault intrusion and volcanism, Ballachulish pluton and contact metamorphism, as well as Kerrera Island's Dalaradian rocks, we mapped the area around Kinlochleven. Our trip started with a stormy night in Glen Coe, followed by sunshine at 15 deg C and a first sunstroke. Overnight the munros (3000 ft = 914 m) and the smaller mountains in the regions were covered with snow, and camping was frosty. However, we climbed up and down the mountains, followed by late evenings of follow-up lectures and discussions. After some hail and horizontal rain conditions became better and everyone returned home safely a tan and nice geological map. Luckily, there were hardly any midgies this year.

1.-3.5.2013

Visiting Azerbaijan

Following Azerbaijan's state oil company visiting our EMR group at RWTH Aachen University, Chris visited Azerbaijan's capital Baku and gave a presentation at the National Academy of Sciences, followed by talks with representatives of the National Academy, as well as the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy and the oil industry. Located on the silk way, the thriving country on the Caspian sea is the oldest place of hydrocarbon usage, where Zoroastrians worshipped fire and used gas seeps as sacred places. Active mudvolcanoes form impressive hills and produce enormous volumes of liquified muds from depth.

16.4.2013

EERA

We kindly thank Kris Piessens, Belgian Geological Survey in Brussels,for his invitation and discussions on joint research in the Euregio on shale gas. Shales are quite complex rocks and their structural diagenesis is yet poorly understood. By joining up expertise we aim to better understand these interesting rocks.

22.3.2013

Presentation on Structural Diagenesis

Chris presented the outcome of Mareen's and Philipp's excellent work today at Wintershall. Upper Carboniferous siliciclastic rocks expose a significant heterogeneity of the pore space in fluvial sedimentary bodies, which were studied in detail from pore- to reservoir scale.

11.3.2013

Presentation on flow barriers in reservoir rocks

We presented our first results on sedimentary and structural flow barriers in Mesozoic eolian sandstones in Hamburg today. Fluid flow in sedimentary rocks might be affected by sedimentary settings and structural phenomena, leading to sealing of the rock fabric. Thanks to Rebecca's and Benni's excellent work and presentation we contribute to the predictibility of reservoir compartments.

19.3.2013

lecture on pump storage plants - PSPs

Today at 7pm Prof. Dr. Holger Schüttrumpf, RWTH Aachen University - Institut für Wasserbau und Wasserwirtschaft will give a presentation on pump storage plants PSP “Pumpspeicherwerke in der Region Niederrhein - Grundlagen, Stand, Potentiale” within the lecture series of Energy Hills e.V.. The interim storage of "green" energy is among the main issues to be addressed in the near future.

21.2.2013

upcoming DRT conference in Leuven, Belgium

Please note the 18th DRT conference Deformation, Rheology, Tectonics in Leuven, Belgium from September 16th-18th 2013 in Leuven, Belgium, and the relating website here. We are happy to support the conference manager Manuel Sintubin.

Abstract submission – 31 May 2013, Early bird registration – 30 June 2013, conference - 16-18 September 2013

7.2.2013

RPR at DGMK conference 2013

RPR contributions were accepted as oral and poster presentations at the annual DGMK conference (Deutsche Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Erdöl, Erdgas und Kohle e.V.) in Celle in April 2013. The conference's topic is on Best Practices - Erwartungen an neue E&P Technologien .

20.2.2013

Invited talk in Bochum on Oman

Chris presented some insight on beautiful Oman, entitled "Weihrauch, Wüste, Wadis  - Oman: Ein geologisches Wunderland auf dem Weg in die Neuzeit" at the Gesellschaft für Geographie und Geologie in Bochum e.V.. Cultural as well as geological aspects were addressed, exposing the beauty of the country. Oman exposes the Jabal Akdhar anticline and Jabal Shams mountains, an almost 3000m peak formed during Alpine orogeny and closure of the Thetys ocean. Carbonate reservoirs in Meszoic rocks, carbonate stringers, piercing salt domes, the Wahiba Sands desert and the obducted Semail ophilithe are just a few of many geological wonders of the Sultante.

21.1.2013

We now have WLan

We now can provide WLan to our students on the 5th floor with kind support of the Center for Computing and Communication of RWTH Aachen University.

23.12.2012

Merry Christmas

The EMR-Group wishes a merry christmas to our partners, colleagues and friends, and a happy and successful 2013.

23.12.2012

Merry Christmas

The RPR team thanks our partners, colleagues and friends for our excellent and fruitful collaboration and wishes a merry xmas, and a happy and successful 2013.

18.-19.12.2012

Workshop Hydrocarbon Resevoirs 

The EMR-Group is running a workshop on the "Petrophysics and Geochemistry of Unconventional Hydrocarbon Reservoirs", organized by Yves Gensterblum from the Institute of Geology and Geochemistry of Petroleum and Coal. We host guests from Australia, Netherlands and the UK here in Aachen, both from academia and industry. Chris gives a presentation on Structural Diagenesis – some insights from field analogs and see-through experiments.

08.12.2012

First Graduation Ceremony at GUtech in Muscat, Oman

Today the first graduation ceremony was held at the new campus of German University of Technology in Halban near Muscat, Oman. Professor Burkhard Rauhut, Rector of GUtech since 2008, and Dr. Dorothea Rüland, Secretary General of the German Academic Exchange Service DAAD gave the words of greetings. The graduates were addressed RWTH Aachen's Rector Professor Ernst Schmachtenberg. 30 Bachelor graduates dressed in an black academic gown, among them five geoscientists, received their final certificate. GUtech is a limited liable establishment owned by local investors (see interview in Spiegel Special 5/2008 with Prof. Rauhut), and was designed in 2006 and put into operation by Barbara Stäuble and Christoph Hilgers in 2007. We are happy to see the first graduates in Urban Planning, IT, Sustainable Tourism and Geosciences leaving the university and wish them all success.

28.11.2012

Stephan Becker's PhD defended

Today Stephan Becker successfully defended his PhD in front of a committee by Prof. Peter Kukla, Prof. Janos Urai and chaired by Prof. Klaus Reicherter. We congratulate Dr. Becker and are happy to keep him at RWTH!