Anna Herring

Assistant Professor

Biography

Anna Herring joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering faculty in August 2022, following several years at the Australian National University where she conducted research as a postdoc and Australian Research Council “Discovery” Early Career fellow. Her research enables efficient design and optimization of technologies to fight climate change: preventing greenhouse gas buildup in the atmosphere by storing carbon dioxide in permeable underground geologic formations, and in useful solid mineral forms.

Herring’s research is largely experimental and is based on highly-resolved visualization of fluid (gas, liquid, and supercritical phase) flows within porous media. She applies state-of-the-art microtomography techniques to observe complicated 3D solid architecture and flow patterns, on a micro-scale basis, in otherwise opaque samples; and she uses image processing and mathematical topology to quantify fluid-solid structures and interactions. She produced the first experimental evidence that micro-scale fluid topology dictates reservoir-scale flow and transport parameters used by engineers. She also investigates how transport of fluids through samples can cause chemical reactions, altering solid surface chemistry and transforming solid structures over time; and she looks at how these reactive transport mechanisms can be manipulated to optimize flow processes in different natural and designed scenarios. Her research spans temporal and spatial scales, chemistry and physics, and fundamental science and applied engineering topics.

Research

• CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage)
• Geologic Carbon Storage
• Mineral Carbonation
• Multiphase Fluid Flows in Porous Media
• Reactive Transport in Porous Media
• 3D X-ray Microtomography
• Topological Data Analysis of 3D Solid and Fluid Structures

Education

• PhD Environmental Engineering, Oregon State University, 2015
• MS Environmental Engineering, Oregon State University, 2012
• BS Environmental Engineering, University of Colorado, 2010

Professional Service

• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Member, the International Society for Porous Media (InterPore), 2022–Present
• American Geophysical Union 2021 Editor’s Citation for Excellence in Refereeing for Water Resources Research

Awards and Recognitions

Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA): “How does geochemical alteration impact CO2 stability in the subsurface?” 2018–2021

Publications

This is a select list of Herring's publications. To see her full list, view her Google Scholar page.

• A. L. Herring, C. Sun, R. T. Armstrong, Z. Li, J. E. McClure, M. Saadatfar. “Evolution of Bentheimer Sandstone Wettability During Cyclic scCO₂-Brine Injections”, Water Resources Research (2021).
• R. T. Armstrong, Z. Lanetc, P. Mostaghimi, A. Zhuravljov, A.L. Herring, V. Robins. “Correspondence of max-flow to the absolute permeability of porous systems”, Physical Review Fluids (2021).
• R. Huang, A. L. Herring, A. Sheppard. “Effect of Saturation and Image Resolution on Representative Elementary Volume and Topological Quantification: An Experimental Study on Bentheimer Sandstone Using Micro-CT”, Transp. Porous Media (2021).
• A. L. Herring, P. L. King, M. Saadatfar, F. Mahdini, A.M. Kemis Yahyah, E. Andò. “3D microstructure controls on mineral carbonation”, J. CO₂ Utilization. (2021).
• C. Sun, J. E. McClure, P. Mostaghimi, A. L. Herring, M. Shabaninejad, S. Berg, and R. T. Armstrong. “Linking continuum-scale state of wetting to pore-scale contact angles in porous media”, J. Colloid and Interface Science (2019).
• A. L. Herring, V. Robins, and A. P. Sheppard. “Topological Persistence for Relating Microstructure and Capillary Fluid Trapping in Sandstones”, Water Resources Research (2018).
• A. L. Herring, F. J. Gilby, Z. Li, J. E. McClure, M. Turner, J. P. Veldkamp, L. Beeching, and A. Sheppard. “Observations of nonwetting phase snap-off during drainage”, Advances in Water Resources (2018).
• A. L. Herring, J. Middleton, R. Walsh, A. Kingston, and A. P. Sheppard. “Flow Rate Impacts on Capillary Pressure and Interface Curvature of Connected and Disconnected Fluid Phases during Multiphase Flow in Sandstone”, Advances in Water Resources (2017).
• A. L. Herring, L. Andersson, and D. Wildenschild. “Enhancing residual trapping of supercritical CO₂ via cyclic injections.” Geophysical Research Letters (2016).
• A. L. Herring, A. Sheppard, L. Andersson, and D. Wildenschild, “Impact of wettability alteration on nonwetting phase transport and trapping.”  International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control (2016).
• A. L. Herring, L. Andersson, S. Schlüter, A. Sheppard, and D. Wildenschild,. “Efficiently engineering pore-scale processes: force balance and topology during nonwetting phase trapping in porous media." Advances in Water Resources (2015).
• A. L. Herring, E. J. Harper, L.  Andersson, A. Sheppard, B. K. Bay, and D. Wildenschild. “Effect of fluid topology on residual nonwetting phase trapping: implications for geologic CO₂ sequestration.” Advances in Water Resources. (2013).