George Moridis's Experience

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Nov. 1991 to present:  Deputy Program Lead for Energy Resources (Sept. 2009 to present); Research Area Leader, Transport and Thermodynamics (2003 to Sept. 2009); Group Leader, Contaminant Hydrology (1997 to 2003); Group Leader, Subsurface Containment Technologies (1993 to 1997); Staff Scientist

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Earth Science Division, Hydrology and Reservoir Dynamics Department
Visiting Professor, Petroleum Engineering Dept., Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA (2006 to present)
Adjunct Professor, Chemical Engineering Dept., Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado, USA (2003 to present)
Visiting Professor, Guangzhou Center for Gas Hydrate Research, Guangzhou Institute for Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China (2009 to present)
Adjunct Professor, Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering Dept., Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey (2005 to present)
  • PI of projects (a) evaluating the production potential of newly-discovered hydrate deposits in the Gulf of Mexico (funded by Statoil of Norway) and (b) in the Ulleung Basin in the Korean East Sea (funded by KIGAM of Korea), (c) assessing the geomechanical stability of marine hydrate deposits in New Zealand (funded by Science of New Zealand, and (d) analyzing the environmental impact of hydro-fracking for gas production from shales (funded by the US EPA).
  • PI of a project evaluating the energy potential and system response (flow, thermal and geomechanical) of three geothermal systems (a low-temperature, a high-temperature, and enhanced geothermal system) in the Rio Grande Rift – project funded by the US Department of Energy, and involved students taking G. Moridis’s course on advanced simulation at Texas A&M University.

  • Overall project leader and LBNL PI of the largest projects awarded by RPSEA on Unconventional Gas Resources in (a) 2008 ($2.64M over 3 years), “A Self-Teaching Expert System for the Analysis, Design and Prediction of Gas Production from Unconventional Gas Resources”; a collaboration of LBNL (lead institution), Texas A&M University (Dr. Tom Blasingame, Petroleum Engineering Dept.) and the University of Houston (Dr. Michael Nikolaou, Chemical Engineering Dept.), and (b) 2009 ($2.9M over 3 years), ), “Coupled Flow-Geophysical-Geomechanical-Geochemical (F3G) Analysis of Tight Gas Production”; a collaboration of LBNL (lead institution), Texas A&M University (Dr. Tom Blasingame, Petroleum Engineering Dept.) and Stanford University (Dr. Mark Zoback, Geophysics Dept.)

  • Hydrate program coordinator and Principal Investigator (PI) of three hydrate projects funded by the National Energy Technology Laboratory of DOE (FY2000 to present), involving numerical simulations and laboratory experiments.  In charge of numerical design and analysis of the first field test of gas production from a hydrate deposit, conducted by an international scientific consortium at the Mallik site, Northwest Territories, Canada in early 2002.  Responsible for the design and analysis of a planned field test of gas production from permafrost hydrate deposits at the Mount Elbert site, to be conducted by BP Exploration (Alaska).  In charge of laboratory studies for (a) the development of techniques for the production of large hydrate samples (pure and in porous media), (b) the non-destructive study of dissociation of artificial and natural hydrate-bearing cores using CT technology, (c) the study of relative permeability and kinetic hydrate dissociation (processes that are critical to gas production from hydrates), (d) the determination of key parameters describing hydrate behavior in porous media through history-matching of laboratory and field experiments.

  • PI of a DOE-sponsored project on the interrelationship between global climate and hydrate dissociation in oceanic accumulations (collaboration with Climate Group of the Los Alamos national Laboratory).

  • PI of a new (mid-2009) project sponsored by ConocoPhillips, which investigates the behavior of composite CH4-CO2 hydrates through numerical simulations and laboratory experiments.

  • Main developer of the TOUGH+ family of codes, the next generation of LBNL simulators for the simulation of fluid flow and transport in complex geologic media (a LDRD-funded project).  The TOUGH+ family of codes is written in FORTRAN 95/2003, and their architecture is based on the principles of object-oriented programming.

  • Developer of the TOUGH+HYDRATE code (scalar and parallel versions) for the simulation of hydrate dissociation and overall behavior in porous media.  This code incorporates the most recent advances in hydrate science, and is used for the design and analysis of field tests and laboratory experiments of hydrate dissociation. A scientific panel convened by the National Academy of Sciences to review the DOE hydrates program (the funding agency supporting the code development) and report to Congress indicated that TOUGH+HYDRATE is “… a small project with a major technological impact” that “… incorporates the best independently measured physical property data into a fundamental reservoir model”.  Since its release in April 2005, TOUGH+HYDRATE is being used by 25 organizations (in 15 countries) conducting hydrate research.

  • PI of a NASA-funded project that aims to describe the thermal and fluid flow effects of a radioactive-fueled heat source buried in the Martian permafrost.  In charge of the radionuclide transport studies (solutes and colloids) for the Yucca Mountain High-Level Radioactive Waste Repository. Main author of Yucca Mountain Modeling Report U060 (Radionuclide Transport Under Ambient Conditions), which provides support for the Repository Licensing Application process.

  • Developer of the EOS9nT model (a member of the TOUGH2 family of codes) for the simulation of transport of radioactive solutes and colloids in the subsurface (used for all the Yucca Mountain studies).

  • Developer of a new generation of conjugate gradient solvers, included in the most recent versions of the TOUGH2 family of codes.

  • PI of the project "Containment of Contaminants Through Physical Barriers from Viscous Liquids Emplaced Under Controlled Viscosity Conditions", funded by the Subsurface Contamination Focus Area, Office of Technology Development of DOE.  The project completed a successful pilot-scale field test in January 1995, and a medium-scale field demonstration (scheduled for FY 1997 at the Brookhaven national Laboratory) is currently being designed.

  • PI of two other containment projects: (a) Testing Barrier Liquids (funded by DuPont) and (b) Repair of Landfill Closure Caps Using Barrier Liquids (funded by the Savannah River Site).

  • PI of a LDRD project on a new generation of ferrofluids (fluids with special magnetic properties) for subsurface remediation and monitoring.

  • In charge of numerical simulation of fate and transport of contaminants in support of the remediation effort at LBNL.

April 1989 to October 1991:  Research Engineer

Groundwater Research Program, WERC #205, Agr. Engineering Dept. & Civil Engineering Dept. (joint appointment), Texas A&M University, Water Resources & Environmental Engineering, WERC #205, Civil Engineering Dept., Texas A&M University (April 1989 - Aug. 1990)

  • In charge of the project "Synthesis of Pneumatic and Hydraulic Controls for Hazardous Site Remediation," which involved air barriers to control the migration of contaminants in the subsurface.  Designed and developed the largest-in-the-world dual gamma-dual energy X-ray attenuation experimental facility (with a scanning area of 6'x7') to investigate basic phenomena of multi-phase flow through porous media, focusing on contamination containment and the evaluation of decontamination methods.

  • Developed (a) a family of new numerical methods, the Laplace Transform Finite Difference (LTFD) , Finite Element (LTBE), and Boundary Element (LTBE) methods for flow and solute transport simulations, (b) 3-D, full two- and three-phase flow numerical models, used to describe the processes involved in groundwater contamination & decontamination, (c) a computer image analysis system for automatic aquifer parameter identification, and (d) a new matrix solver for multi-phase problems, the MEPC-D4 , which reduces the computer time requirements by 50% to 82.5% and storage by 50%.  Licenses and copyrights for items (a) through (d) have been awarded or are pending.

Feb. 1987 to April 1989:  Associate Engineer/Senior Scientist

  • International Rice Research Institute (United Nations - FAO)
    Dept. of Water Management, P.O. Box 933, 1099 Manila, PHILIPPINES

    • In charge of research  programs in South and South-East Asia (Philippines, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam) and supervising a staff of 32.  Responsible for (a) the development of hydraulic barriers to alleviate salt water intrusion into the main aquifer supplying Ho-Chi-Minh City (Saigon), and (b) the design of the groundwater development plan for the Terrai area of Nepal.  Other responsibilities included (1) experiments on, and (2) development and testing of numerical simulation models for (a) water and vapor flow in rice soils, (b) large-scale (regional) groundwater flow and contaminant transport, (c) irrigation & drainage, (d) groundwater contamination by agricultural chemicals, and (e) drainage of acid sulphate soils.

1980-1987:  Research/Teaching Assistant

  • Texas Water Resources Institute & Dept. of Agricultural Engineering

    Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843

    • Taught hydraulics, hydraulic engineering, flow through porous media, and thermodynamics for 5 years.  Developed multi-dimensional fully implicit numerical models for (a) Single-phase flow, (b) Multi-phase flow , (c) Simultaneous mass and heat flow , and (d) Miscible contaminant transport in porous media.

1979-1980:  Chemical Engineer

  • Greek National Atomic Energy Commission

    Nuclear Research Center "Democritus", Aghia Paraskevi 17643, GREECE

    • Conducted research on the reaction kinetics of gamma-irradiated human hormonal solutions (a NATO-sponsored project).

Summer 1979:  Chemical Engineer Trainee

  • Radfontein Mining Corporation, Newcastle, SOUTH AFRICA

    • Member of an operation research team analyzing possibilities for secondary platinum extraction from mine slag.

Summer 1978:  Chemical Engineer Trainee

  • Egyptian Salt and Soda Corporation, Muharambay, Alexandria, EGYPT
    • Helped with the design, installation, operation and maintenance of an ion exchange and an electrolysis system.

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