Zerpa Research Group

Welcome to the home page of Dr. Zerpa’s research group at the Colorado School of Mines. The overall goal of our research group is to develop and apply fundamental knowledge on transport phenomena and surface chemistry for the understanding and solution of key problems in petroleum science and engineering. Particularly, our areas of research consist of:

 

• Fluid flow in porous media, reservoir engineering and enhanced oil recovery.
• Flow assurance and multiphase flow in pipelines.
• Unconventional energy resources such as shale gas, shale oil and natural gas hydrates.
• Renewable energy resources such as geothermal energy from sedimentary basins.

If you are interested in our research programs or would like to inquire about joining our group, please contact us.

Fall 2023

CONGRATULATIONS TO AFRAH SIDDIQUE

Afrah successfully defended her MS thesis titled “Evaluation of a wettability modifier additive on improving oil recovery in fractured reservoirs”.

Summer 2023

DR. ZERPA RECEIVED SPE REGIONAL AWARD

Dr. Zerpa received the 2023 SPE Regional Reservoir Description and Dynamics Award from the SPE Rocky Mountain North America Region. This award is an acknowledgement of Dr. Zerpa’s outstanding contribution in this area at the regional level.

Spring 2023

DR. ZERPA APPOINTED AS THE HARRY D. CAMPBELL CHAIR IN PETROLEUM ENGINEERING

Dr. Zerpa was appointed as the second recipient of the Harry D. Campbell Endowed Chair in Petroleum Engineering. The Harry D. Campbell Endowed Chair in Petroleum Engineering was established in 2005 by Mr. Harry D. Campbell, PE’ 42. The holder of the Chair is expected to exhibit an exciting vision for the future of the petroleum industry, technical expertise in reservoir management, ability to lead cutting-edge research programs, effectiveness in teaching and mentoring students, and strong commitment to business and professional ethics and its integration with teaching and mentoring activities.

Fall 2022

DR. ZERPA RECEIVED SPE TEACHING AWARD

Dr. Zerpa received the 2022 SPE Regional Distinguished Achievement Award for Petroleum Engineering Faculty from the SPE Rocky Mountain North America Region. This award recognizes superior teaching, excellence in research, significant contributions to the petroleum engineering profession, and special effectiveness in advising and guiding students.

CONGRATULATIONS TO MARSHALL PICKARTS

Marshall successfully defended his PhD dissertation titled “Gas hydrate deposition & remediation during continuous/transient operations”.

Spring 2022

DR. ZERPA RECEIVED TEACHING AWARDS

Dr. Zerpa received the Outstanding Faculty award granted by the Senior students, and the Enger Teaching Award granted by the Petroleum Engineering Department at Mines in recognition of his dedication, passion, and excellence in teaching.

CONGRATULATIONS TO HAL RIYAMI

Hal successfully defended his PhD dissertation titled “Investigation into the effect of temperature on nitrogen foam behavior”.

Fall 2021

Ahmed Mansour received the Outstanding Graduating PhD Student Award

Ahmed was recognized by his contributions to the Petroleum Engineering Department at Mines in teaching and research, and by his recent academic achievements, including the acceptance of a paper in the upcoming 2022 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition.

CONGRATULATIONS TO AHMED MANSOUR

Ahmed successfully defended his PhD dissertation titled “Breaking the barrier of drilling automation: Measuring the distance drilled at the bottom of the well using an imaging while drilling tool”.

SPRING 2021

Santiago received the Outstanding Graduating Masters Student Award

Santiago was recognized by his contributions to the Petroleum Engineering Department at Mines in teaching and research, and by his recent academic achievements, including the acceptance of a paper in the upcoming 2021 Geothermal Rising Conference to be held in San Diego, California, on October2021.

CONGRATULATIONS TO DANIEL JUDMAIER

Daniel successfully defended his MS thesis titled “Multiscale modeling of gas hydrate formation in oil reservoirs”.

CONGRATULATIONS TO SANTIAGO ROCHA

Santiago successfully defended his MS thesis titled “Feasibility study of closed-loop geothermal heat extraction concepts using reservoir simulation”.

FALL 2020

Bianca received the Outstanding Graduating Masters Student Award

Bianca was recognized by her contributions to the Petroleum Engineering Department at Mines as an active member of the SPE Student Chapter, and for her accomplishments in teaching and research. Bianca has accepted a position with Equinor Brazil.

CONGRATULATIONS TO HAO QIN

Hao successfully defended his PhD dissertation titled “Hydrate film growth and risk management in oil/gas pipelines using experiments, simulations, and machine learning”.

SUMMER 2020

CONGRATULATIONS TO BIANCA GERANUTTI

Bianca successfully defended her MS thesis titled “Investigation of gas hydrate formation during sea water injection based on undersaturated oil core flooding experiments”.

SPRING 2020

CONGRATULATIONS TO DANIEL CROCE

Daniel successfully defended his PhD Dissertation titled “Intermittent gas lift for liquid loaded horizontal wells in tight shale reservoirs”.

FALL 2019

CONGRATULATIONS TO JULIAN LIU

Julian successfully defended his PhD Dissertation titled “Molecular sieving of hydrocarbon mixtures through nano-porous membranes”.

SUMMER 2019

CONGRATULATIONS TO YAN WANG

Yan successfully defended her PhD Dissertation titled “The Development and Application of Hydrate Formation, Transportation and Bedding Models in Liquid-Dominated Systems”.

SPRING 2019

Dr. Zerpa was granted Tenure and Promotion

Dr. Zerpa was granted Tenure at the Colorado School of Mines and promotion to Associate Professor of Petroleum Engineering. [Mines Newsroom]

CONGRATULATIONS TO JULIAN LIU

Julian won first place in his oral presentation titled “Investigation of Hindered Transport of Large Hydrocarbon Molecules in Nanoporous Materials” in the Oil & Gas session of the Graduate Research And Discovery Symposium (GRADS) at Mines.

SUMMER 2018

CONGRATULATIONS TO VISHAL SRIVASTAVA

Vishal successfully defended his PhD Dissertation title “Quantitative Risk Modeling of Hydrate Particle Bedding in Oil and Gas Pipelines using Mechanistic, Statistical and Artificial Neural Network Frameworks”.

CONGRATULATIONS TO LUIS SERVIN

Luis successfully defended his MS thesis titled “Rich Gas Injection Pilot: An Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Approach Applied to an Unconventional Reservoir in the Bakken Petroleum System”.

SPRING 2018

DR. ZERPA RECEIVED TEACHING AWARD

Dr. Zerpa received the Enger Teaching award granted by the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Mines in recognition of his dedication, passion and hard work.

CONGRATULATIONS TO JAGMIT SINGH

Jagmit successfully defended his MS thesis on “Nozzle Design and Evaluation to Mitigate Liquid Loading in Gas Wells.” [Link]

CONGRATULATIONS TO NERINE JOEWONDO

Nerine successfully defended her MS thesis on “Pore Structure of Micro- and Mesoporous Mudrocks based on Nitrogen and Carbon Dioxide Sorption” [Link], and is getting ready to begin her PhD studies at the Imperial College in London in Fall 2018.

CONGRATULATIONS TO DANIELA MACHNIK

Daniela won second place in the Undergraduate Research Symposium at Mines for her poster on “Preliminary Modeling Evaluation of Water Ice Extraction from Lunar Permanently Shadowed Craters by Direct Heating of Icy Regolith”. [Mines Newsroom]

FALL 2017

CONGRATULATIONS TO DR. ZHIJIAN LIU AND ALBERTO RAMIREZ

Zhijian and Alberto graduated in the December commencement ceremony, Zhijian obtained his Phd degree and Alberto his MS degree both in Petroleum Engineering.

SPRING 2017

CONGRATULATIONS TO ZHIJIAN LIU

Zhijian won first place in his oral presentation titled “Modelling Sloughing of Gas Hydrate Deposits in Subsea Pipelines Using a Finite Element Numerical Approach” in the Applied Computation session of the Graduate Research And Discovery Symposium (GRADS) at Mines.