Quoc Nguyen
Assistant Professor
Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering
Chevron Centennial Teaching Fellowship in Petroleum Engineering
Phone: (512) 471-1204
Fax: (512) 471-9605
E-mail: quoc_p_nguyen@mail.utexas.edu
Dr. Quoc Nguyen earned his Ph.D. in petroleum engineering from the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. He joined the faculty of The University of Texas at Austin in 2005.
Dr. Nguyen’s recent research has focused on the interface between colloids (which are between two phases of matter, such as liquid and solid) and the engineering of complex fluids, such as foam, nanoparticle dispersion, surfactant (which decreases surface tension in other liquids) and polymeric solutions. He has developed a parallel program of modeling and experiments to investigate subsurface transport phenomena (including dynamics of complex fluids in porous media, reactive flow, and heat transfer), and develop methods for subsurface process optimum control. His research has applications in stimulated hydrocarbon production, improved oil recovery, and environmental remediation. In previous research in the downstream petroleum industry, he led several projects on oil refining (distillation and extraction) and petrochemical (cracking and reforming) processes. In the environmental area, Nguyen was involved in numerous industrial research projects on hazardous waste treatment and the development of clean production technologies.
Research Interests:
- Chemical enhanced oil recovery
- Conformance control technology
- Stimulated hydrocarbon production
- Thermal and chemical conversion of tar sand and oil shale
- Modification of surface energy using soft and hard nanoparticles