Research Areas

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Petroleum and Gas Engineering Laboratory

The petroleum & natural gas engineering laboratory in the department conducts researches on the development and production of conventional oil & gas and future fossil energy such as shale gas hydrate and oil sands. The research areas include drilling technology, well control, reservoir evaluation & characterization, deep-sea drilling, and production technology for conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources. Geostatistics is one of key tools for data integration and optimization.

The ongoing projects are “Development of a unconventional energy resources and enhanced oil and natural gas recovery” supported by Korea National Oil Corporation(KNOC) and “Experimental researches for formation and dissociation of a gas hydrate” supported by Ministry of Trade, Industry & Energy (MOTIE) leaded by Professor Kang, Joo Myung. Other projects are: “Development of Reservoir Characterization and Monitoring Systems for an Optimal Production from Unconventional Reservoirs” mainly for oil sands; “Development of Hydraulic Fracturing Evaluation Technology” for shale gas; “Development of Modeling Technologies of Well Control” for water-based and oil-based muds with directional and horizontal well trajectories. These projects have been conducted by the research group of Professor Jonggeun Choe.

Geophysical Prospecting Laboratory

Geophysics is an area of science which deals with the physical properties of the earth media. First of all, responses on the subsurface media are measured, using some geophysical method. After the exploration or survey, data processing and interpretation are followed and we obtain the subsurface image as a final result. By using the result, it is possible to find location of the hydrocarbon, natural gas, gas-hydrate, mineral resources, organic mineral, ground water and thermal ground water under the ground or seabed. Also, the result is very useful for analyzing the structure of subsurface and the properties of anomalies.

We develop new exploration techniques, modeling algorithms and inversion methods, and establish new theory of geophysics. The algorithms and methods, we investigate, provide high resolution images of the subsurface. The images from numerical and physical modeling are used to predict the response of the earth, the result of explorations and the applicability of other developments. The outcomes of the projects are used not only for the exploitation of the natural resources, as mentioned, but also for an earthquake-resistant design of the important facilities and ascertainment of the contaminated area.

Energy Resource Processing Laboratory

The raw material extracted from the earth is high impure and must be upgraded before they are of use to society. The refining of material commodities involves a broad variety of science and technology, associated with the production, handling and separation of solid particles. Particles systems are also critical to many of the processes and products of modern industry. Thus, the main research activities of this ground are focused on physical concentration of valuable minerals from ore and particle processing. Also, as means of conserving natural resources and environment, our efforts have expanded to development of recycling technologies. Major topics of our laboratory are
1) Mineral processing and resources recycling
- Separation and beneficiation of minerals
- Recovery of valuable resources from municipal/industrial waste
- DEM(Discrete Element Method) and SPH(Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics)
- Comminution

2) Energy and environmental engineering
- Clean coal technology and coal pretreatment technology
- CO2-Foam EOR
- Mineral carbonation of CO2 using industrial wastes
- Reactive transport modeling of CO2 geological sequestration

Energy, Environmental and Engineering Economics Center

Energy systems in the 21th century face upward challenges to mitigate stresses of high energy prices and premature new energy technologies, and blames of being the principal destroyer of global natural environment, and to find a better solution to meet the goal of 'sustainable development.'

Energy, Environmental, and Engineering Economics Center was established in 1987 to study social and managerial aspects of the solution and to establish socially-optimal national strategies for energy and environmental problems. Our center deals with various issues in the following research areas: Analysis of energy markets and industries, National Energy Policies, Economic Valuation of environmental good and new technologies, Environmental management, and Economic evaluation of engineering projects. Recent research topics include economic valuation of CO2-reduction technologies, new energy technologies and water resource technologies, analysis of economic and social effects of technology developments, valuation of recycling and environmentally-friendly goods, valuation of geological information, and international energy market analysis.

Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering Laboratory

The Rock Mechanics & Rock Engineering Laboratory mainly carry out the researches on the physical, mechanical and hydraulic properties of rock and rock mass in theoretical, numerical and experimental aspects. Through many conventional and creative types of laboratory testing, rock strength, deformation behavior and fracturing process in rock with different boundary conditions are examined. Based on the fundamental researches, engineering applications in terms of the design and analysis of the rock structures such as tunnels, underground caverns, and rock slopes as well as blasting and excavation in rock mass are carried out.

Practical concerns in in-situ stress measurements, tunnel supports, consideration of anisotropy of rock, and determination of input parameters for the design of a rock structure are also studied. Energy and geo-environmental applications such as CO2 geosequestration, geothermal energy and deep geological repository for nuclear waste are also important area of rock mechanics which require thorough understanding of coupled thermal, mechanical and hydraulic processes within geological media. Recent researches include characterization of discontinuous rock mass, discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA), blasting simulation of a structure, TBM disc cutter design for the fast tunnel excavation, scaled model test of a tunnel in the various anisotropic rock conditions, shear slip potential of deep geological repository for nuclear waste and so on.

Engineering Geology and Energy GIS Laboratory

Main research interests of the lab are focused on environmental issues and natural resource management from the perspective of GIS (Geographic Information Systems), engineering geology and remote sensing. GIS technology is an effective solution for solving various engineering problems in both developed and developing environments.

It is a vital tool for prediction of spatial variation of ground properties, mine exploration, reclamation of mining sites, geohazards prediction and the evaluation of renewable energy resources. Recent research topics include modern scientific approaches such as remote sensing and image processing, combining with conventional site investigation techniques in the area of engineering geology. Sophisticated visualization and analysis technologies are applied to cutting-edge researches including CCS (Carbon Capture & Storage) monitoring, polar exploration and smartphone application development.

Environmental Geochemistry Laboratory

Major interest of our research group focuses on the environmental issues related to resources development processes and the recovery of useful resources while solving the environmental problems.

One of the study topics is the investigation and treatment of the environmental contamination caused by natural resource development activities. Researches about the sources of the contaminants, their chemical forms, and pathways into surficial environment including soil, water, sediment and plants are carried out in the laboratory. This geochemical study includes the development of contamination controlling processes in urban environment, and at the minerals and energy resources development sites.

Our research group also concerns the recovery of usable resources within the contaminated environment treatment processes. Especially, we are focusing on the reclaiming the valuable mineral resources during produced water treatment process after unconventional energy resource developments or wastewater treatment process in urban wastewater treatment plants.

Nuclear Energy System Engineering

This area is concerned with nuclear energy systems that will supply abundant, economical, and environmentally friendly energy from the large-scale energy produced in fission reactions. The primary research topics include commercial nuclear reactors, cooling systems, control and measurement systems, fast breeder reactors, hydrogen production plants, nuclear transformation plants, and other future nuclear energy systems. Broader areas include nuclear reactor physics and computer simulation, thermal hydraulics and safety analysis, and digitized synthetic design. Recent research has focused on the development of next-generation nuclear reactor interpretation code that describes the performance and safety of nuclear reactors by experiments and analysis, the development of small power reactors for ships and district-level heating, and digital nuclear reactor design. The ultimate goal of this field is to provide and build a safe, economical nuclear energy system to manage fuel supply and demand.

Including, Monte Carlo Laboratory, Nuclear Integrated Design Engineering Analysis Laboratory, Nuclear System and Application Laboratory, Nuclear Thermal Hydraulics Engineering Laboratory, Reactor Physics Laboratory, and SNU Nuclear Material Laboratory.

Fusion and Plasma Engineering

This area can be divided into three subjects: fusion research, applied plasma engineering (which is related to new materials and the environmental industry), and quantum engineering (which is related to accelerators and particle beams/lasers). Fusion research focuses on fusion plasma theories and computer simulations, tokamak fusion experiments, and fusion design. In contrast, applied plasma engineering is concerned with developing new materials and plasma systems for the environmental industry using plasma diagnostic control technology. This area also studies thermoplasma-related technology and the use of plasma energy for semiconductor production. Finally, the quantum engineering area deals with developing x-ray neutron generation systems, and designing and diagnosing laser systems and multipurpose energy systems.

Including, Fusion and Plasma Application Laboratory, Fusion and Plasma Theory Group, Plasma and Ion Beam Laboratory, and Plasma Application Laboratory.

Radiation Engineering

Radiation engineering pursues development of radiation utilization techniques and expansion of their use in real life, by securing radiation sources in the form of radioactive isotopes or radiation generating systems.

The fundamentals of radiation engineering studies are (1) devising the radiation utilities in industry, (2) diversifying the radiation usage in medicine, (3) preventing environmental contamination with radioactive materials, and (4) managing the human activities for minimal radiation exposure.

Research topics include material change/plant breeding by radiation exposure, nuclide/element analysis by activation, industrial radiography, technical advancement in radiological diagnosis and treatment of diseases, estimation of the effect of radioactive materials on environment and on human beings via radiation exposure, and radiation exposure control.
Including, Applied Nuclear Physics Lab and RADiation Bioenginnering Laboratory.