Prof. Ruben Juanes

Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Director, Materials, Infrastructure and Systems Group (Pierce Laboratory)

Primary DLC

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

MIT Room: 1-363

Assistant

Roberta Pizzinato
robertap@mit.edu

Areas of Interest and Expertise

Theory of Multiphase Flow in Porous Media
Petroleum Reservoir Engineering
Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS)
Natural Gas Hydrates
Groundwater Hydrology
Multiscale Modeling

Research Summary

Professor Juanes is a geoscientist with a strong interest in the physics of multiphase flow in porous media. His research focuses on advancing our fundamental understanding and predictive capabilities of the simultaneous flow of two or more fluids through rocks, soils and other porous materials. Research in his group combines theory, simulation and experiments that elucidate fundamental aspects of multi-fluid flow, which we then apply for prediction of large-scale Earth science problems in the areas of energy and the environment, including geological carbon sequestration, methane hydrates, and ecohydrology of arid environments.
Loosely speaking, research areas are:

(*) Methane: methane hydrates in nature; methane venting from freshwater sediments
(*) CO2: Geological carbon sequestration; capillary and solubility trapping; geomechanics
(*) Oil: Enhanced oil recovery; flow instabilities; mixing; flow through fractured media
(*) Water: Water infiltration; gravity fingering; ecohydrology of arid environments

Juanes teaches courses in computer programming (undergraduate), soil mechanics (undergraduate), groundwater hydrology (graduate) and computational methods for flow in porous media (advanced graduate). 

Recent Work