Flow and Transport in Porous Media: Applications in Environment and Energy

DR. CHRISTOPHE DARNAULT

Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental
Engineering and Earth Sciences, Clemson University
Associate Editor, Journal of Hydrology

ABSTRACT
Flow and transport in porous media with applications in environment and energy are complex phenomena that encompass a
wide range of disciplines, including physics, chemistry, biology, earth sciences, hydrology, soil and water engineering, and

reservoir engineering. Understanding flow and contaminants transport processes in porous media is critical for the mitigation
of their impacts, the development of effective remediation procedures, the exploitation and management of subsurface
resources — aquifer systems and petroleum reservoirs, and the protection of the environment and public health. The release of
emerging contaminants, such as engineered nanomaterials, into the environment; the prevalence of microbial pathogens due
to wildlife and agricultural activities in rural and agricultural watersheds; and the discharge of radionuclide wastes during
storage, handling, and disposal of nuclear materials in groundwater systems are inevitable. To study the fate and transport of
these contaminants in the vadose zone, we have investigated their mobility under different hydrodynamic and biogeochemical
conditions found in the natural environment. We have demonstrated the critical role that preferential flow (macropore flow
and fingered flow); transient in water content and velocity; transient in solution chemistry, gas-water interfaces; solid
interfaces; system heterogeneities; plants and microbes; and their interactions and feedback have in the flow, transport, and
retention of contaminants in the vadose zone. Mobilization of crude oil from geologic formations is essential for the
exploitation of petroleum reservoirs and the oil recovery process. We have explored the ability of nanoparticles to improve the
efficiency of the chemical-enhanced oil recovery process (EOR) that uses surfactant flooding by examining interfacial and
rheological properties of multiphase systems and sandstone-crude oil-nanofluid systems. To elucidate the individual
contribution of the mechanisms and natural parameters affecting the flow phenomena, transport, and retention of these
contaminants, as well as to quantify and visualize them, we have developed monitoring methods and tools using physical,
chemical, microbiological, molecular, and non-intrusive technologies. The results of our research will contribute to the
development and validation of flow, fate, and transport models of contaminants from pore scale to watershed scale for
management and protection of groundwater resources, petroleum reservoirs, public health, ecosystem sustainability, risk
assessment, and life-cycle analysis.

BIOGRAPHY
Christophe Darnault is Assistant Professor at the Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences at Clemson
University. He serves as Associate Editor for Frontiers in Environmental Science – Soil Processes, and served as Associate Editor
for the Journal of Hydrology (Elsevier) (2011-2017). He is one of the Clemson’s representatives for the Consortium of
Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. He has research and teaching experience at Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute and University of Illinois at Chicago. He was also a visiting scholar at Yale University. He received his Ph.D. in
Environmental and Water Resources Engineering from Cornell University (2000), and his combined M.S. & B.S. degree
(Diplôme d’Ingénieur) in Agricultural, Environmental, and Biological Engineering from the Institut Supérieur d’Agriculture,
Lille, France (1995). His experience has also encompassed working as water resources group leader at Environmental
Engineering and Technology, Inc. and as project engineer at Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. (now the Water Division of ARCADIS). Dr.
Darnault’s teaching and research interests are in the fields of biological and environmental engineering, agricultural engineering,
hydrological sciences, and water resources engineering. Particular contributions include the fate and transport of pathogenic
microorganisms, nanomaterials, non-aqueous phase liquids, and radionuclides in soils under natural conditions; vadose zone
processes; and the development and application of novel methods– including light transmission, fluorescence, microbiological,
and molecular– for the monitoring of biological/environmental systems and processes.