About

Ilenia Battiato is an Associate Professor of Energy Science Engineering at Stanford University. She is a member of the Multiscale Physics in Energy Systems Group, where her research focuses on multiscale modeling and scientific computing for energy systems. Her work includes the development of symbolic scientific computing methods for multiscale systems, as well as the study of multiscale reactive transport in carbonate rocks, electrochemical transport and thermal runaway in battery systems, and flow and transport in coupled channel-matrix systems. Her contributions aim to advance the understanding and predictive capabilities of complex energy-related processes through multiscale modeling and computational techniques.

Research topics

• Chemistry
• Petroleum engineering
• Geology
• Physics
• Materials science
• Ecology
• Mechanics
• Mineralogy
• Biology
• Paleontology
• Geography
• Earth science
• Geochemistry
• Cartography
• Environmental science
• Geotechnical engineering
• Composite material

Selected publications

• Chemical and Reactive Transport Processes Associated with Hydraulic Fracturing of Unconventional Oil/Gas Shales

  Chemical Reviews · 2022 · 99 citations

  • Geology
  • Mineralogy
  • Petroleum engineering

  Hydraulic fracturing of unconventional oil/gas shales has changed the energy landscape of the U.S. Recovery of hydrocarbons from tight, hydraulically fractured shales is a highly inefficient process, with estimated recoveries of <25% for natural gas and <5% for oil. This review focuses on the complex chemical interactions of additives in hydraulic fracturing fluid (HFF) with minerals and organic matter in oil/gas shales. These interactions are intended to increase hydrocarbon recovery by increasing porosities and permeabilities of tight shales. However, fluid-shale interactions result in the dissolution of shale minerals and the release and transport of chemical components. They also result in mineral precipitation in the shale matrix, which can reduce permeability, porosity, and hydrocarbon recovery. Competition between mineral dissolution and mineral precipitation processes influences the amounts of oil and gas recovered. We review the temporal/spatial origins and distribution of unconventional oil/gas shales from mudstones and shales, followed by discussion of their global and U.S. distributions and compositional differences from different U.S. sedimentary basins. We discuss the major types of chemical additives in HFF with their intended purposes, including drilling muds. Fracture distribution, porosity, permeability, and the identity and molecular-level speciation of minerals and organic matter in oil/gas shales throughout the hydraulic fracturing process are discussed. Also discussed are analysis methods used in characterizing oil/gas shales before and after hydraulic fracturing, including permeametry and porosimetry measurements, X-ray diffraction/Rietveld refinement, X-ray computed tomography, scanning/transmission electron microscopy, and laboratory- and synchrotron-based imaging/spectroscopic methods. Reactive transport and spatial scaling are discussed in some detail in order to relate fundamental molecular-scale processes to fluid transport. Our review concludes with a discussion of potential environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing and important knowledge gaps that must be bridged to achieve improved mechanistic understanding of fluid transport in oil/gas shales.

  DOI

• Striving to translate shale physics across ten orders of magnitude: What have we learned?

  Earth-Science Reviews · 2021 · 47 citations

  • Earth science
  • Geology
  • Petroleum engineering
  DOI

• Concentration polarization over reverse osmosis membranes with engineered surface features

  Journal of Membrane Science · 2020 · 72 citations

  • Mechanics
  • Materials science
  • Chemistry
  DOI

Recent grants

• DMREF: Collaborative Research: An integrated multiscale modeling and experimental approach to design fouling-resistant membranes

  NSF · $212k · 2017–2019

• Collaborative Research: Hybrid Modeling of Reactive Transport in Porous and Fractured Media

  NSF · $47k · 2017–2017

• DMREF: Collaborative Research: An integrated multiscale modeling and experimental approach to design fouling-resistant membranes

  NSF · $272k · 2016–2017

• Collaborative Research: Hybrid Modeling of Reactive Transport in Porous and Fractured Media

  NSF · $180k · 2013–2014

• Collaborative Research: Hybrid Modeling of Reactive Transport in Porous and Fractured Media

  NSF · $126k · 2014–2017

Frequent coauthors

• Bowen Ling

  Institute of Mechanics

  34 shared

• Alexandre M. Tartakovsky

  17 shared

• Davide Picchi

  Mines Saint-Étienne

  14 shared

• Daniel M. Tartakovsky

  12 shared

• Tim Scheibe

  Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

  12 shared

• Kyle Pietrzyk

  Stanford University

  11 shared

• Jingyuan Yan

  10 shared

• S. Rubol

  10 shared

Labs

• Multiscale Physics in Energy Systems GroupPI

Education

• Ph.D., Energy Science and Engineering

  Stanford University

• M.S.

  Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization (MPI-DS)

  2012

• B.S., Mechanical Engineering

  Clemson University

  2014

• M.S., Mechanical Engineering

  San Diego State University

  2016

Awards & honors

• Acknowledgement of “excellent reviews”, Transport in Porous…
• Department of Energy Young Investigator Award, Basic Energy…
• GREW (Grants and Research Enterprise Writing) Fellowship, Sp…
• Eastman Chemical Award for Excellence, Clemson University (2…
• Research Fellowship Award, SAMSI (2012)

Similar researchers at Stanford University

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• Zhenan Baoh-224
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• Michael Snyderh-215
• Roger Blandfordh-205