SNSF Assistant Professor Energy Grant awarded to Prof. Marie Violay
© 2015 EPFL
Prof. Marie Violay, Laboratory of Experimental Rock Mechanics, (School ENAC) has been awarded an Assistant Professor (AP) Energy grant by the SNSF. The SNS awarded seven AP Energy Grants for the overall call 2014. These grants are aimed at promoting young scientists in the field of energy research.
The objective of the project of Prof. Violay - Hydro-Mechanical Couplings in Enhanced Geothermal Reservoir _ Earthquake nucleation - is to provide better understanding of the various couplings between hydraulic and mechanical interactions in enhanced geothermal system. In particular, this project provides a detailed study of how the friction properties control the transport properties of reactivated fractures for low porosity rocks. These data will provide new constraints on the permeability evolution during the creation of geothermal reservoirs. Importantly, the results will shed new light on the physics of induced earthquake mechanisms by combining deformation experiments with the registration of the microseismicity at high temperature and confining pressure, simulating geological conditions in the reservoirs.
This project is integrated within the Swiss Competence Center for Energy Research (SCCER): SoE - Supply of Electricity.