Pitt’s Center for Energy Hosts Guest Speaker Liwei Zhang
On Friday, March 27, the University of Pittsburgh Center for Energy will welcome Liwei Zhang, research associate at the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) in Pittsburgh, to present on his talk “Assessing Geologic CO2 Storage in China: Potential, Recent Status and Challenges in Wellbore Integrity and Cement Degradation.”
The talk is open to the public and will be held at 104 Thaw Hall, from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Zhang will discuss Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) as an essential component of China’s strategy to achieve carbon peaking and neutrality. He will explore the current landscape of Geologic CO2 Storage (GCS) in China, which possesses a theoretical capacity of 2.9 trillion tons.
Established in 2008, the Center for Energy is a transdisciplinary, university-wide initiative that leverages the energy-related expertise of approximately 100 faculty members from the Swanson School of Engineering, the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, the Law School, Business School, and the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.
“The Center for Energy is committed to fostering collaboration across disciplines to advance energy research,” said Paul Ohodnicki, associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science in Swanson School of Engineering and director of the Center for Energy. “Having the opportunity to welcome Dr. Zhang is a testament to our efforts to foster dialogue that addresses pressing energy challenges facing the U.S. and the world today.”
Liwei Zhang is now the Vice Director of Geologic CO2 Storage and Engineering Safety Research Center, Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He received his MS Degree from Duke University in 2010 and his PhD degree from Carnegie Mellon University in 2013.
Zhang's research has been focused on experimental and numerical studies on geologic CO2 storage. Specific research areas include evolution of pore structure and mineral composition of wellbore cement under CO2-rich environment, subsurface mineral dissolution and precipitation at CO2-water-rock interface, leaching behavior of metal ions from ores and fly ash under high concentration CO2, etc.
He has secured research grants equivalent to 2 million USD in GCS research. He has written four monographs as editor or co-editor, published over 100 papers in top-tier journals like Applied Energy, Environmental Science and Technology, Cement and Concrete Composites, etc., and held 20 invention patents. He has close research collaborations with more than 30 researchers in the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and other countries.