Key information
- Funding
- Self-funded
- School
- Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society
- Location
- Edinburgh
- Award
- PhD
- Delivery type
- Full-time, Part-time
- Start date
- September
The Centre for Enhanced Oil Recovery and CO2 Solutions (formerly the Hydrocarbon Recovery Mechanisms project) investigates various hydrocarbon recovery mechanisms to improve the current understanding of the pertinent reservoir processes and to produce information required for efficient planning and management of field production.
The Centre uses unique laboratory techniques to investigate, experimentally, reservoir fluid flow at various scales. High pressure flow visualisation at the pore level is performed in three high pressure micromodel rigs, resulting in more understanding of the reservoir processes as well as quantitative information. Four core test facilities operating at simulated reservoir conditions, including X-ray local saturation measurement capabilities, are used to produce field specific and generic data. Mechanistic and numerical modelling of flow through porous media, based on in-house experimental observation and measurements, are conducted to generalise research results.
Research projects
The research areas include flow of gas-condensate near the wellbore, well deliverability improvement, trapping of hydrocarbon by water and its subsequent remobilisation by depressurisation, water alternating gas (WAG) injection, miscible WAG and simultaneous injection of water and gas (SWAG) and recovery from naturally fractured reservoirs.
Entry requirements
Candidate criteria
Please contact the institute to discuss.
Funding information
| Status | Full Time | Part Time |
|---|---|---|
| Scotland | £5,006 | £2,503 |
| England / Wales / N Ireland | £5,006 | £2,503 |
| International | £26,604 | £13,302 |
- Status: Your residency status is usually defined as the country where you have been ordinarily resident for the three years before the start of your course.
- International: 'International' includes applicants from European Union countries who do not hold Pre-Settled or Settled status in UK. (This does not include students from the Republic of Ireland - see above).
Additional information
Industrial sponsorship
Many of our past students have gained funding from industry sources, both those companies involved in oil exploration and production in their home countries or larger international companies that offer scholarship programs. For example:
- Nigerian Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF)
- Bolahak, Kazakhstan
- Commonwealth Scholarships
- Chevening scholarships
- BP
- Chevron
- Shell
- ExxonMobil
There are also a number of Industrial sponsorships available every year to UK and EU students. All eligible applicants (generally EU/UK students) automatically have their CVs or applications sent to participating petroleum companies, who offer a limited number of sponsorships each year to our students, across all three courses. The number of sponsorships offered will vary depending on the companies’ needs and situations, and the quality of the student applicants and are given our after an interview event that takes place during the summer before the course starts.
We offer a number of competitive funded scholarships for research degrees. Full or partial support may be available for well-qualified candidates from UK research councils, research pools, charities or industry.
View our full range of scholarships.
Why Heriot-Watt
We're the top university in Scotland for graduate outcomes which means that more of our graduates are employed or in postgraduate education than any other institution in the country and we ranked 5th in the UK.
We're also rated number one in the UK for CEO or MD roles, meaning more of our graduates go on to become CEOs or MDs than any other university in the whole of the UK. On top of that, we have beautiful campuses, across the globe, so you'll get a truly international education. Our Edinburgh Campus is home to Oriam, Scotland's National Sports Performance Centre combined with plenty of wellbeing resources, prioritising fitness and mental health for all students. Our Global Research Institutes look at solving real world issues such as climate change and saving our oceans as well as working on the next medical technological breakthrough and the future of AI and robots.
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