PE_Newsletter_2021_Online, Page 16

PE_Newsletter_2021_Online, Page 16

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Pictured left is the new instrumented flow loop being installed in the Edgar Mine as a joint project between FAST, Dr. Yilin Fan in PE,

and the GP Department. The flow loop runs thru both rock and the mine’s drifts and will be instrumented with fiber optics. This tool will allow us to study a variety of different areas on interest

including flow behavior and strain responses.

The Proppant Transport in Complex Fracture Systems project is led by

PhD student Ashtiwi Bahri under FAST consortium director Dr. Jennifer Miskimins. Pictured below are the apparatus and schematics of the project.

The experimental apparatus for this research was designed at Mines

to understand proppant transport in a complex fracture network. The

experimental apparatus consists of fracture slots, a mixing tank, a mixer, flow lines, a flow meter, and a slurry pump. This apparatus has one primary fracture, three secondary fractures, and two tertiary fractures. Sieve analysis equipment was used to analyze the collected proppants from inside the slots.

Studies on multiphase fluid dynamics and fluid properties are led

by Associate Professor Xiaolong Yin's research group. Pictured below are animations of distributions of x- and y-velocities around

an oscillating sphere. “Virtual Mass of an Oscillating Sphere” – a research conducted by undergraduate student Niels Snow advised by Prof. Xiaolong Yin – will be presented at the online AIChE Annual Meeting in a special session held in honor of Prof. Christine Hrenya

in her contributions to particle flows.

16 COLORADO SCHOOL OF MINES