Maen Husein
Associate Professor
- Room: D204E
- Telephone: (403) 220-6691
- Fax: (403) 284-4852/282-3945
- E-Mail: mhusein [at] ucalgary [dot] ca
CURRENT RESEARCH INTEREST:
My group is called the Nano-Technology for Energy and Environment (NTEE), since most of our research falls in the area s of energy and the environment. We apply nanotechnology to alleviate the environmental footprint of current oil exploration, extraction, production and refining techniques. In addition to the environmental advantage, our approach also brings great benefits and cost reduction as a result of nanoparticles’ ability to catalyze current processes. Below are fields of major focus:
1) Heavy oil upgrading by means of ultradispersed nanoparticle catalysts, sorbents, etc, mainly prepared in-house. Our group is looking into hydrocracking, thermalcracking, visbreaking and delayed cocking. Examples of nanoparticles we managed to prepared within the heavy oil phase included metal, metal oxides and hydroxides, carbonates, etc. Some of these particles proved effective for in-situ, from within the oil phase, scavenging of H2S(g).
For those involved, this work nurtures good foundations in the following subjects of chemical engineering: reaction kinetics, reactor design, transport phenomena (mass, heat and momentum), etc.
2) Produced water treatment, including tailings and SAGD water. Membrane (ceramic and polymeric) filtration coupled with micelle formation is employed to remove organic contaminant. In addition, carefully designed biochars are used as adsorbents. New findings, which allowed 80% removal of organics from the current SAGD water treatment train, helped identifying the nature of these contaminants. In addition to the removal of organics, surfactants with very high affinity to heavy metals are used for the removal of heavy metals from contaminated water.
For those involved, this work nurtures good foundations in the following subjects of chemical engineering: reaction kinetics, reactor design, environmental chemistry, transport phenomena (mass and momentum), etc.
3) Novel drilling fluids containing nanoparticles have proved very effective at preventing fluid loss, thus reducing drilling cost as well as the environmental footprint of drilling operations. Both oil-based and water-based drilling muds have been tested.
For those involved, this work nurtures good foundations in the following subjects of chemical engineering: transport phenomena (mass, heat and momentum), colloid chemistry, etc.
PREVIOUS WORK EXPERIENCE:
Research Associate:
Department of Chemical Engineering, McGill University (08/2002-08/2003)
Software Engineer:
Simulation of the Secondary Water Loop in Nuclear Power Generation Plants (11/2000-07/2002)
COURSES:
Undergraduate:
- ENGG311: Engineering Thermodynamics (2005-present)(course outline)
Graduate:
- ENEN661/ENCH645: Water and Wastewater Treatment/ Environmental Engineering Aspects of Water Pollution(2003-present) (course outline)
- ENCH643: Environmental Engineering Aspects of Air Pollution (2004-2006) (course outline)
- ENEN603: Principles of Environmental Engineering (2006-present) (course outline)
- SEDV603: Energy Systems II: Renewable Energy (2008) (course outline) (Non-Engineering Students)
- SEDV609: Air Pollution & its Impact on the Energy Sector (2008) (course outline) (Non-Engineering Students)
INVITED TALKS:
1) Panelist: The 1st IASTED International Conference on Unconventional Oils & the Environment, July 4-6 2011, Panel Session: Clean Energy Development in Alberta July 5 2011, Calgary, AB.
2) In-Situ Upgrading of Heavy Oil Using UD Nanoparticles, Statoil, Trondheim, Norway, May 31, 2011
3) Nanoparticle-Mediated Heavy Oil Recovery and Upgrading, Statoil, Stavanger, Norway, April 14, 2011
4) Nanoparticle-Mediated Heavy Oil Recovery and Upgrading, Statoil, Stavanger, Norway, March 18, 2011
5) Removal of Organic Contaminants from Produced-water, IRIS, Stavanger, Norway, February 24, 2011
6) Nanoparticle-Mediated Heavy Oil Recovery and Upgrading, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway, February 11, 2011
7) Application of Nanotechnology in Heavy Oil Recovery and Upgrading, Jordan University of Science & Technology, Irbed, Jordan, December 28, 2010
8) Preparation of Ultradispersed Metal Nanoparticles in Heavy Oil. ACAMP (ACAMP Alberta Centre for Advanced MNT Products) Clean Energy seminar,Calgary,AB, September 16, 2010
9) A Microemulsion Approach for Nanoparticle Preparation in Heavy Oil, Chevron Mentoring Excellence in Technology Learning Group, Calgary, AB, July 28, 2010
10) Treatment of Produced Water: MEUF & More, CONRAD Water Focus Group Meeting,Calgary,AB, June 10, 2010
11) MEUF Treatment of Produced Water Utilizing Co-contaminants, Process Affected Water Management Strategies, The Canadian Institute, Calgary, AB, March 16-17, 2010
12) Preparation of Different Nanoparticles In Heavy Oil Media, ACAMP (ACAMP Alberta Centre for Advanced MNT Products) Clean Energy seminar, Calgary, AB, March 11, 2010
13) Scientific Aspects of In-Situ Upgrading of Heavy Oil, The 2nd International Conference on Energy & Environment Protection (ICEEP2), Al-Khalil, Palestine, November 10-12, 2009
14) Environmental Remediation of In-situ Upgrading, International Student Energy Summit,Calgary,AB,Canada, June 2009
15) Ultradispersed Nanoparticles for Energy & Environment Applications, the 15th World MicroMachineSummit,Calgary,AB,Canada, May 2009
16) Preparation and Stabilization of Ultradispersed Nanoparticles in Heavy Oil Matrices, MIT,Cambridge,MA,USA, December 2008
17) Maximizing the Concentration of Colloidal Nanoparticles in Microemulsions and their Application as Absorbents, International Symposium on Recent Trends in Surface and Colloid Science ISSCS-07,Kolkata,India November 15-16, 2007
18) Preparation of Nanoparticles Using Microemulsion Systems,University ofCalgary,Calgary,AB,Canada, July 2003
19) Microemulsions as Microreactors, 3M Canada, London, ON, Canada, May 2000