News
Winter school on Digital Environmental Geosciences
16 January 2024
Prof. Tom Bultreys and Sharon Ellman were invited to teach about micro-CT imaging and image analysis at the winter school on Digital Environmental Geosciences at the University of Orléans on 16 and 17 January.
Science day 2023
26 November 2023
Scientific discussion on the sustainable management of the subsurface. Lead by Tom Bultreys together with panel members Tine Compernolle from Antwerp University and Tycho Van Hauwaert from Bond Beter Leefmilieu
Welcome Soetkin
1 November 2023
PProGRess welcomes Soetkin Barbaix. Soetkin will work on the underground storage of hydrogen in karst aquifers supervised by T. Bultreys and N. Boon (Faculty of Bioscience Engineering).
Winner of best MSc presentation
20 October 2023
Our newest PProGRess member Hanne De Lathauwer won the price of best presentation on the Master Day at UMons organized by Geologica Belgica Luxemburga!
Welcome Afsar and Hanne
1 October 2023
PProGRess welcomes two new PhDs: Afsar Muhammad and Hanne De Lathauwer. Afsar will work, in collaboration with the department of structural engineering and building materials and ETEX, on the multi-scale characterization of the core structure of lightweight gypsum materials. Hanne will work on how to improve the durability of the weathering of natural building stones.
ERC Starting Grant for Tom Bultreys
5 September 2023
The European Research Council (ERC) granted Tom Bultreys a Starting Grant for the project FLOWSCOPY. In this project, new techniques will be developed to study the behavior of flow on the microscopic scale using high-resolution X-ray CT. By introducing specially designed micro- and nano-particles into the flow and tracking their motion with new computer algorithms, we will be able to measure fluid flows that are representative of realistic processes in the subsurface. This will lead to better models of groundwater flows, and of how CO2 and hydrogen can be stored in porous rock layers in the subsurface.
Energy Transition Fund for BE-HyStore
9 June 2023
PProGRess is involved in the BE-HyStore project funded by the Energy Transition Fund. This project will provide more insight into potential barriers that may arise during the conversion of Fluxys' underground natural gas storage facility in Loenhout into an underground hydrogen storage on a TWh scale, which is needed to create in Belgium a flexible renewable energy system without CO2, without waste and at the lowest possible system cost.
Upcoming CRYSPOM conference co-organized by Ghent University
1 May 2023
The biannual international workshop Crystallization in Porous Media (CRYSPOM) focuses on fundamental research of crystallization in porous materials. It unites researchers from geoengineering, geology, physics, chemistry, mechanics and conservation interested in crystal nucleation, growth and transport in porous media and its related consequences. The idea is to bring together leading researchers and Ph.D. students to provide for a constructive and open dialogue. Also, it seeks to incite collaborations between theorists, modelists and experimentalists on an international level.
The eight in the series will be held in Ghent (Belgium), 13th – 15th of June, 2023.
Welcome Chandra Winardhi
1 February 2023
PProGRess welcomes Chandra Winardhi. He will work, in collaboration with University of Antwerp, on the negative emissions through enhanced silicate weathering in the coastal zone.
Welcome Dr. Sojwal Manoorkar
18 November 2022
PProGRess welcomes Dr. Sojwal Manoorkar.
BOF basic infrastructure grant
1 November 2022
PProGRess received a grant for the acquisition of an advanced climatic chamber to simulate the impact of sun and rain on the durability of porous materials
BugControl
1 January 2022
The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has granted a Vici grant to Prof. Veerle Cnudde! In the Vici project BugControl, PhD students Ellie Buena and Alejandra Reyes-Amezaga will influence the role of moisture inside rocks by utilizing microbial activity in a positive manner.
Welcome Sharon Ellman
1 October 2021
PProGRess welcomes Sharon Ellman. She will investigate multiphase flow in porous rocks, with a focus on upscaling from the micrometer to the centimeter scale.
Welcome Dr. Mostafa Borji
1 August 2021
PProGRess welcomes Dr. Mostafa Borji. He will investigate pore-scale salt precipitation during underground energy storage and its effect on fluid flow using high-resolution X-ray imaging.
Funding for EXCITE project
1 May 2021
A research team with Veerle Cnudde as coordinator have secured a 5 million euro Horizon 2020 grant for their EXCITE project (Electron and X-ray microscopy Community for structural and chemical Imaging Techniques for Earth materials). The three-year project consists of fifteen partners from nine European countries, including the Centre for X-ray Tomography (UGCT) as one of the core partners.
Welcome Dulce Valdez Madrid
1 April 2021
PProGRess welcomes PhD student Dulce Valdez Madrid. Within the SUBLime project, Dulce will investigate the 3D multi-scale structural characterization and long-term performance related to efflorescence of lime mortars.
Welcome dr. Ben Callow
4 March 2021
PProGRess welcomes post-doctoral researcher Dr. Ben Callow. Within the MoCCha-CT project, Ben will investigate the effects of salt precipitation and mineral carbonation in porous media using X-ray dark-field imaging.
Some of our online datasets were used and awarded!
18 February 2021
Several of our online datasets available at digital rocks portal have been picked up by 3 award winners in the "Porous Media Visualization and Data Reuse Challenge"
From left to right (with link to the original datasets): Static Image Category (3rd place) - Identifying Savonnieres Carbonate Ooliths , Video Category (3rd place) - Belgian fieldstone pores and solids and in the 3D Printing Category (3rd place) - Visualization of sandstone and a carbonate pore space surface.
Welcome Gülce Kalyoncu
1 September 2020
PProGRess welcomes PhD student Gülce Kalyoncu. She will investigate the impact of salt precipitation on the energy storage in the geological subsurface from the scale of pores up to storage reservoirs (km-scale).
2D-3D Scopy: Towards Reality in raw materials
17 July 2020
In the light of the 2D3DScopy project, involving post-doctoral researcher Margarita Merkulova and PhD student Jonathan Sittner, an entertaining science web video has been made to demonstrate the integration of 3D image data obtained by spectral X-ray computed tomography into process simulation. The video can be watched here .
Online webinar by Arjen Mascini
30 June 2020
On the 30th of June Arjen Mascini presented his latest publication 'Event-based contact angle measurements inside porous media using time-resolved micro-computed tomography' during the first Porous Media Tea Time Talks (PMTTT) , co-organized by PProGRess' post-doctoral researcher Tom Bultreys. Arjen's talk can be watched here . Read the full article here .
These talks will be held online every two weeks. If you don't want to miss these talks, you can subscribe to the PMTTT channel on YouTube.
Welcome Dr. Margarita Merkulova and Sebastiaan Godts
15 May 2020
PProGRess welcomes Dr. Margarita Merkulova (post-doctoral researcher) and Sebastiaan Godts (PhD student, BRAIN 2.0, project PREDICT)! The research of Margarita includes combined chemical and structural characterisation of mineral ore systems in 2D and in 3D with means of X-ray computed tomography. Sebastiaan will investigate phase transitions of salts under changing climatic conditions to predict salt crystallization damage and the formation of complex salt mixtures.