6:00 PM: Thai food & Beverages ~ Tariff $15.00

Contact Freddie Smith for Reservations / Cancellations at 312-842-7100 or Freddie@mcri.org by Noon THURSDAY, February 25, 2016

7:00 PM: Presentation
The geochemistry of minerals in intermediate to deep sedimentary rocks (2 - 10 km depth) is not sufficiently known to predict accurately the effect of human activities, such as carbon dioxide sequestration or fracking. To study real time experiments, a high-pressure environmental chamber (HPEC) was constructed for in situ X-ray diffraction studies to 1000 bars and to 200 oC. In the HPEC, a liquid, e.g., a brine, plus sample in suspension is pressurized by gas, e.g., CH4 or CO2, or liquid, e.g., supercritical CO2. The unique aspect of this chamber is that the sample + liquid (~ 2 mL) form a dynamic system, and particles can move freely in the liquid while being illuminated by the X-ray beam. As an example, experimental results are given for the d(001) values of montmorillonite clay vs temperatures to 150oC at P(CO2)= 500 bars in a NaCl-rich brine.

Bio Sketch: Steve Guggenheim went directly to the University of Illinois at Chicago as a faculty member after obtaining a doctoral degree in geology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His general research interests include understanding the relationship of atomic structure (bulk and surface) and chemistry to layer silicate stability and properties. His early work (in the 1980s) involved crystal structure analysis of modulated layer silicates by using high resolution TEM and X-ray diffraction, but he has more recently been developing new methods to understand carbon (CO2, CH4) sequestration in deep sedimentary environments. He is a Foreign Member of the Lincei (Italian Academy of Sciences and Humanities), a Bailey Distinguished Member and former President of the Clay Minerals Society, a recipient of the Medal for Research Excellence (Association Internationale pour L'Etudes des Argiles) and a recipient of the Hawley Medal for the best paper (1986) in the Mineralogical Association of Canada. He is a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America and a former Editor-in-Chief of Clays and Clay Minerals.

©2011-2020 by State Microscopical Society of Illinois | Webmaster |