Over 110 industry, government, university and community stakeholders attended UQ-CCSG’s showcase event, the Annual Research Review, on 7 December 2018.
This year’s event was opened by the Executive Dean of UQ's faculty of Engineering Architecture and Information Technology, Professor Vicki Chen. UQ-CCSG Centre Director, Professor Andrew Garnett, then took the stage to give an update of the year in review. He finished his well-received keynote address with an overview of some of the Centre's highlight achievements and an insider’s look at traction achieved by the Centre throughout the year.
Four of the Centre’s research Chairs and chief investigators then gave detailed updates on key initiatives across the Centre’s research portfolio. They gave the audience valuable insights into the current status of projects in their research program. This included updates on:
- Geosciences - Delivered by Professor Suzanne Hurter, Energi Simulation Chair.
- Water - Delivered by Professor Jim Underschultz, UQ-CCSG Chair in Petroleum Hydrodynamics.
- Low Permeability - Delivered by Dr Chris Leonardi, Advance Queensland Mid Career Research Fellow, School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering.
- Opex Reduction - Delivered by Dr Mahshid Firouzi, Advance Queensland Early Career Research Fellow, School of Chemical Engineering
Most international scenarios on energy futures show the key role of natural gas in transitioning to a low carbon world. However, choices and energy solutions are many. An energetic and insightful panel-style session was held on future energy led by Professor Peta Ashworth, Chair in Sustainable Energy Futures with UQ’s School of Chemical Engineering, Professor Ben Hankamer, Professorial Research Fellow with UQ’s Institute for Molecular Bioscience and Professor Andrew Garnett, UQ-CCSG Centre Director.
The audience then broke into smaller groups for a more intimate look at UQ-CCSG's signature research, technologies and systems. The concurrent options this year included a tour of selected laboratory facilities (the UQ well simulator and the UQ transparent well facility) and workshops on the following topics:
- 'The golden rules of gas' - an analysis of Queensland’s experience against the IEA’s Guidelines on what is required to sustain a ‘golden age of gas’.
- 'Precipice – Evergreen: Expect the unexpected' - an exploration into new UQ findings on the workings of the deep aquifers of the Great Artesian Basin.
- 'Base Surat to the Walloons' - vast amounts of new CSG data is leading to important revisions in our understanding of the fundamental geology of the Great Artesian Basin
- '3D digital characterisation of coal microstructure' - leading edge imaging techniques developed at UQ throw light onto fundamental workings of gas and coal.
- 'Controlling bottom‐hole pressure in CSG wells' - new mathematics and unique experimental infrastructure unravel the complexities of gas and water flow in CSG wells.
This year's poster display attracted a significant amount of interest during the day. During the breaks, attendees took the opportunity to read posters displaying the work of CCSG research teams, PhD students working on CCSG funded projects as well as independent PhD students researching CSG related issues.
Click here to see the poster display from the 2018 Research Review.
