Our application for center of excellence, Porous Media Laboratory, was granted by the Norwegian Research Council!! The topic is fundamental knowledge on flow through porous media. Progress in the center will contribute to safer and more efficient extraction of oil and injection of carbon dioxide in subsea reservoirs, improved understanding of fuel-cells and catalyst materials and more efficient extraction of water in areas with drought. The total funding of the center is approximately 400 MNOK for the duration of 10 years.
The center leader and primus motor behind the application is Prof. Alex Hansen. My involvement in the center is together with Prof. S. Kjelstrup and Prof. D. Bedeaux, who were key contributors to the application. I am involved in two work-packages dealing with thermodynamic driving forces and application of the theory. Researchers from NTNU, UiO and SINTEF (me) are involved in the center, which combines experimental and theoretical work and methods from physics, chemistry, geology and geophysics.
The center is of outmost importance as it provides steady funding for the next ten years to make progress on fundamental research. The picture below shows some of the center members celebrating the granted application.
