Zuleima T. Karpyn

ZKarpyn@psu.edu

Phone

814-863-2273

Office Address

512G Penn State Innovation Hub

Title(s)

Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Research, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences

Professor of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering

Endowed Title(s)

Donohue Family Professor in Energy and Mineral Engineering

Webpage

http://eesl.iee.psu.edu/content/cqi

Curriculum Vitae

ZK_curriculum_vitae_2023_web.pdf

Expertise

Multi-phase flow in porous media

X-ray Computed Tomography

Digital Rock Physics

Solid/liquid interfaces and wettability

Geologic Carbon Sequestration

Unconventional reservoir characterization

Education

5/05 Ph.D., Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University.

5/01 M.S., Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University.

8/97 B.S., Chemical Engineering, Universidad Central de Venezuela.

Courses Taught

PNG 405: ROCK AND FLUID PROPERTIES - Introduction to petroleum reservoir rock and fluid properties, coring methods, and principles of flow in porous media.

PNG 406: ROCK AND FLUID LABORATORY - Systematic study of oil reservoir rocks and fluids, and their interrelation applied to petroleum engineering.

PNG 475: PRODUCTION AND COMPLETIONS ENGINEERING – Well inflow performance and subsurface production principles of oil and gas reservoirs.

PNG 492: PETROLEUM ENGINEERING CAPSTONE DESIGN PROJECT – Integration of petroleum and natural gas engineering concepts to project design.

PNG 501: FLOW IN POROUS MEDIA – Governing equations and formulation of problems of fluid flow in porous media. Class size:

PNG 590: COLLOQUIUM - graduate seminars series.

EGEE 101: ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT - Energy utilization and technological development, energy resources, conversion and consequences on the local and global environment, and energy alternatives.

Unit

John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering

About:

Zuleima Karpyn is associate dean for Graduate Education and Research, and Donohue Family Professor of Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering. Dr. Karpyn specializes in multiphase flow and transport in porous media, and digital rock physics. Areas of application include reservoir characterization and engineering, carbon sequestration, subsurface energy storage, and environmental remediation. She holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Universidad Central de Venezuela, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in petroleum and natural gas engineering from Penn State.

Karpyn is a recipient of the 2008 Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award granted by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the 2010 Wilson Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2016 and 2024 Fulbright U.S. Scholar, 2018-2019 Big10 (BTAA) Academic Leadership Fellow, and Energi Simulation Chair in Fluid Behavior and Rock Interactions (2014-2020). She has also served as associate editor of the Society of Petroleum Engineers Journal (2009-2014), assistant editor-in-chief of the Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering (2014-2017), associate editor of Transport in Porous Media (2018-present), and deputy editor of GeoEnergy (2022-present).

Research Projects

Evaluation of potential technology pathway to image rock properties and geologic storage of CO₂
Deep-learning image analysis techniques for porous medium property estimation
Experimental Investigation of gas storage and transport behavior in nanoporous shales
Pore-scale analysis of wettability alteration in carbonate rocks via chemically tuned waterflooding
Modeling the Impact of wetting conditions on capillary trapping using pore-network modeling

Publications

Lou, X., Chakraborty, N., and Karpyn, Z., 2022, “Experimental Investigation of Shale Rock Properties Altering in-situ Gas Density and Storage Capacity,” Frontiers in Earth, April. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.877551
Tawfik, M., Subbakrishna, A., Hsi, Y., Purswani, P., Johns, R., Shokouhi, P., Huang, X., and Karpyn, Z., 2022, Comparative Study of Traditional and Deep-Learning Denoising Approaches for Image-based Petrophysical Characterization of Porous Media, Frontiers in Water, Vol 3, January. https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2021.800369
Chakraborty, N., Lou, X., Enab, K., and Karpyn, Z., 2022, “Measurement of In-situ Fluid Density in Shales with Sub-Resolution Porosity using X-Ray Microtomography.” Transport in Porous Media. 141, 607–627. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-021-01738-4
Magzymov, D., Johns, R. T., Karpyn, Z., & Purswani, P., 2021, Modeling the Effect of Reaction Kinetics and Dispersion during Low-Salinity Waterflooding. SPE Journal. 26(5), 3075-3093, DOI: https://doi.org/10.2118/193909-PA
Purswani, P., Johns, R., Karpyn, Z., and Blunt, M. 2021, “Predictive Modeling of Relative Permeability using a Generalized Equation-of-State,” SPE Journal, 26(01), 191-205, DOI: https://doi.org/10.2118/200410-PA
Zhang, M., Chakraborty, N., Karpyn, Z.T., and Emami-Meybodi, H. and Ayala. L., 2021, “Experimental and Numerical Study of Gas Diffusion and Sorption Kinetics in Ultratight Rocks,” Fuel. 286, 1-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2020.119300
Purswani, P., Johns, R., Karpyn, Z., and Blunt, M. 2020, “Predictive Modeling of Relative Permeability using a Generalized Equation-of-State,” SPE Journal, September (1-15). DOI: https://doi.org/10.2118/200410-PA
Lou, X., Chakraborty, N., Karpyn, Z., Ayala, L., Nagarajan, N., and Wijaya, Z. 2020, “Experimental Study of Gas/Liquid Diffusion in Porous Rocks and Bulk Fluids to Investigate the Effect of Rock Matrix Hindrance,” SPE Journal, September (1-15). DOI: https://doi.org/10.2118/195941-PA
Purswani, P., Karpyn, Z.T., Enab, K., Xue, Y. and Huang, S. 2020, “Evaluation of Image Segmentation Techniques for Image-Based Rock Property Estimation,” Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering. 15(December), 166-172. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2020.107890
Chakraborty, N., Karpyn, Z., Liu, S., Yoon, H., and Dewers, T., 2020, “Experimental evidence of gas densification and enhanced storage in nanoporous shales.” Journal of Natural Gas Science & Engineering. [pre-proof available on line] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jngse.2019.103120
Xiong, B., Purswani, P., Pawlik, T., Samineni, L., Karpyn, Z.T., Zydney, A., & Kumar, M., 2020, “Mechanical Degradation of Polyacrylamide at Ultra High Shear Rates during Hydraulic Fracturing.” Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology, 1(6), 166-172. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/C9EW00530G
Purswani, P., Tawfik, M., Karpyn, Z.T., & Johns, R. T., 2019, “On the Development of a Relative Permeability Equation of State”. Computational Geosciences, 1-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10596-019-9824-2.
Liu, S., Zhang, R., Karpyn, Z.T., Yoon, H., & Dewers, T., 2019, “Investigation of Accessible Pore Structure Evolution under Pressurization and Adsorption for Coal and Shale Using Small-Angle Neutron Scattering”. Energy & Fuels, 33(2), 837-847. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.8b03672.
Purswani, P., and Karpyn, Z.T., 2019 “Laboratory Investigation of Chemical Mechanisms Driving Oil Recovery from Oil-Wet Carbonate Rocks”. Fuel, Volume 235, 406-415. DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2018.07.078.
Zhou, S., Liu, D., Cai, Y., Karpyn, Z.T., and Yao, Y., 2018, “Comparative analysis of nanopore structure and its effect on methane adsorption capacity of Southern Junggar coalfield coals by gas adsorption and FIB-SEM tomography”. Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 272 (December): 117-128. DOI: 10.1016/j.micromeso.2018.06.027.
Zhou, S., Liu, D., Cai, Y., Karpyn, Z.T., and Yao, Y., 2018, “Petrographic Controls on Pore and Fissure Characteristics of Coals from the Southern Junggar Coalfield, Northwest China”. Energies, 11 (1556): 1-22. DOI: 10.3390/en11061556.
Dewers, T., Heath, J., Yoon, H., Ingraham, M., Grigg, J., Mozley, P., and Karpyn, Z.T., 2018. Part I-3, “Pore-to-Core Characterization of Shale Multiphysics”, in Geological Carbon Storage: Subsurface Seals and Caprock Integrity, American Geophysical Union, 384 pages, ISBN: 978-1-119-11864-0.
Purswani, P., Tawfik, M.S., and Karpyn, Z.T., 2017. “Factors and mechanisms governing wettability alteration by chemically tuned waterflooding: a review”. Energy & Fuels, 31 (8):7734-7745. DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.7b01067.
Abdelmalek, B., Karpyn, Z. T., Liu, S., Yoon, H., and Dewers, T., 2017. “Gas permeability measurements from pressure-pulse decay laboratory data using Pseudo-pressure and Pseudo-time transformations”. Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology, https://doi.org/10.1007/s13202-017-0376-5.
Chakraborty, N., Karpyn, Z.T., Liu, S., and Yoon, H., 2017. “Permeability Evolution of Shale during Spontaneous Imbibition”. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 38 (February): 590-596, DOI: 10.1016/j.jngse.2016.12.031.
Klise, K., Moriarty, D., Yoon, H., and Karpyn, Z.T., 2016. "Automated contact angle estimation for three-dimensional X-ray microtomography data”. Advances in Water Resources, 95 (September): 152–160, DOI: 10.1016/j.advwatres.2015.11.006.
Brunet, J.-P., Li, L., Karpyn, Z.T., Huerta, N., 2016. "Fracture opening and self-healing: critical residence time as a unifying parameter for diverging cement fracture property evolution under carbon sequestration conditions". International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 47 (April): 25-37. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2016.01.024.
Cao, P., Karpyn, Z.T., and Li, L., 2016. “The role of host rock properties in determining potential CO2 leakage pathways”. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 45 (February): 18-26. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijggc.2015.12.002.
Torrealba, V. A., Karpyn, Z. T., Yoon, H., Klise, K. A., and Crandall, D., 2016. “Pore-scale investigation on stress-dependent characteristics of granular packs and their impact on fluid distribution”. Geofluids, 16(1): 198-207. DOI: 10.1111/gfl.12143.
Cao, P., Karpyn, Z.T., and Li, L., 2015. “Self-healing of cement fractures under dynamic flow of CO2-rich brine”. Water Resources Research, 51(6): 4684-4701. DOI: 10.1002/2014WR016162.
Aksu, I., Bazilevskaya, K., and Karpyn, Z.T., 2015. “Swelling of clay minerals in unconsolidated porous media and its impact on permeability”. GeoResJ, 7(September): 1-13. DOI:10.1016/j.grj.2015.02.003.
Alexis, D., Karpyn, Z.T., Ertekin, T., and Crandall, D., 2015. “Fracture permeability and relative permeability of coal and their dependence on stress conditions”. Journal of Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources, 10(June): 1-10. DOI:10.1016/j.juogr.2015.02.001.
Yan, Q., Lemanski, C., Karpyn, Z.T., and Ayala H., L.F., 2015. “Experimental investigation of shale gas production impairment due to fracturing fluid migration during shut-in time”. Journal of Natural Gas Science & Engineering, 24(May): 99-105. DOI:10.1016/j.jngse.2015.03.017.
Li, X., Akbarabadi, M., Karpyn, Z.T., Piri, M. and Bazilevskaya, E., 2015. ”Experimental investigation of carbon dioxide trapping due to capillary retention in saline aquifers”. Geofluids, 15(1-2): 1-14. DOI: 10.1111/gfl.12127.
Thararoop, P., Karpyn, Z.T., and Ertekin, T., 2015. "A production type-curve solution for coalbed methane reservoirs”. Journal of Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources, 9(March): 136-152. DOI:10.1016/j.juogr.2014.12.001.
Thararoop, P., Karpyn, Z.T., and Ertekin, T., 2015. “Development of Material Balance Equation for Coalbed Methane Reservoirs Accounting for the Presence of Water in the Coal Matrix and Coal Shrinkage and Swelling”. Journal of Unconventional Oil and Gas Resources, 9(March): 153-162. DOI:10.1016/j.juogr.2014.12.002.
Ghazanfari, E., Pamukcu, S., Pervizpour, M., and Karpyn, Z.T., 2014. "Investigation of generalized relative permeability coefficients for electrically assisted oil recovery in oil formations”. Transport in Porous Media, 105(1): 235-253. DOI: 10.1007/s11242-014-0368-6.
Landry, C. J., Karpyn, Z.T., and Ayala, O.M., 2014. “Relative permeability of homogeneous-wet and mix-wet porous media as determined by pore-scale Lattice Boltzmann modeling”. Water Resources Research, 50(5): 3672-3689. DOI:10.1002/2013WR015148.
Landry, C. J., Karpyn, Z.T., and Ayala, O.M., 2014. “Pore-scale lattice Boltzmann modeling and 4D x-ray computed microtomography imaging of fracture-matrix fluid transfer”. Transport in Porous Media, 103 (3): 449-468. DOI:10.1007/s11242-014-0311-x.
Odumabo, S., Karpyn, Z.T., and Ayala H., L.F., 2014. “Investigation of gas flow hindrance due to fracturing fluid leak off in low permeability formations”. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 17(3): 1-12. DOI:10.1016/j.jngse.2013.12.002.
Dutta, R., Lee, C.-H., Odumabo, S., Ye, P., Walker, S.C., Karpyn, Z.T., and Ayala H., L.F., 2014. "Experimental investigation of fracturing-fluid migration due to spontaneous imbibition in fractured low-permeability sands”. SPE Reservoir Evaluation & Engineering, 17(1): 74-81. DOI:10.2118/154939-PA.
Celauro, J.G., Torrealba, V.A., Karpyn, Z.T., Klise, K.A., and McKenna, S.A., 2014. “Pore-scale multiphase flow experiments in bead packs of variable wettability”. Geofluids, 14(1): 95-105. DOI: 10.1111/gfl.12045.
Brunet, J.-P., Li, L., Karpyn, Z.T., Kutchko, B.G., Strazisar, B., and Bromhal, G., 2013. “Dynamic evolution of cement composition and transport properties under conditions relevant to geological carbon sequestration”. Energy and Fuels, 27(8): 4208-4220. DOI: 10.1021/ef302023v.
Larpudomlert, R., Torrealba, V., Karpyn, Z.T., and Halleck, P.M., 2013. “Experimental investigation of residual saturation in mixed-wet porous media using a pore-scale approach”. Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology, September: 1-13. DOI 10.1007/s13202-013-0076-8.
Cao, P., Karpyn, Z.T., and Li, L., 2013. “Dynamic alterations in wellbore cement integrity due to geochemical reactions in CO2-rich environments”. Water Resources Research, 49(6): 1-11. DOI: 10.1002/wrcr.20340.
Lee, C.-H. and Karpyn, Z.T., 2012. “Numerical analysis of imbibition front evolution in fractured sandstone under capillary dominated conditions”. Transport in Porous Media, 94(1): 359-383. DOI: 10.1007/s11242-012-0009-x.
Thararoop, P., Karpyn, Z.T., and Ertekin, T., 2012. “Development of a multi-mechanistic, dual-porosity, dual-permeability, numerical flow model for coalbed methane reservoirs”. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 8(1): 121-131. DOI: 10.1016/j.jngse.2012.01.004.
Landry, C. and Karpyn, Z.T., 2012. “Single-phase lattice Boltzmann simulations of pore-scale flow in fractured permeable media”. International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 5(2/3): 182-206. DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2012.046320.
Thararoop, P., Karpyn, Z.T., and Ertekin, T., 2012. “Numerical studies on the effects of water presence in the coal matrix and coal shrinkage and swelling phenomena on CO2-enhanced coalbed methane recovery process”. International Journal of Oil, Gas, and Coal Technology, 5(1): 47-65.

Awards

Big Ten Academic Leadership Fellow, Big Ten Academic Alliance, 2018-2019.
Administrative Fellow, Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost, The Pennsylvania State University, 2018-2019.
Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award, Fulbright – Colciencias Innovation and Technology, 2016-2017.
Energi Simulation (formerly Foundation CMG) Chair in Fluid Behavior and Rock Interactions, 2014.
Quentin E. and Louise L. Wood Endowed Faculty Fellow in Petroleum and Natural Gas Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 2010.
Wilson Award for Excellence in Teaching, The Pennsylvania State University, 2010.
Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award, National Science Foundation, 2008.
Outstanding Service to the American Association of Petroleum Geologists - Eastern Section, as Technical Program Co-Chair of the AAPG-SPE 2008 Eastern Meeting, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 2008.
Wilson Research Initiation Grant, The Pennsylvania State University, 2005.