Krishna K. Panthi

photo of Krishna Panthi

Research Scientist

Office Address: 200 E. Dean Keeton St., Stop C0300, Austin, TX 78712-1585

Office: CPE 4.128

Email address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Mobile Phone Number: 419-377-2661

LinkedIn URL: https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishnapanthi12/

GoogleScholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=w40jzL0AAAAJ&hl=en

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Krishna-Panthi-2

Research Projects 

Project A: ASP Surfactant Formulation for Sandstone Reservoir at 25C

Surfactant flooding is one of the effective enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods. Alkaline-surfactant-polymer (ASP) flooding pilot tests showed high oil recovery in many oil fields. The incremental oil recovery was as high as 25% that of conventional water flooding. Alkali is very important to reduce surfactant adsorption in the rock, to produce in-situ soap.

This ASP flood was targeted to a sandstone reservoir of about 25C. The reservoir is of moderate permeability of the order of about 100-500 mD. By injecting water, the oil recovery obtained was less than 40% OOIP. This is a one-year project and started in September 2020. The best ASP formulation obtained consists of only one commercially available surfactant which gave ultralow IFT between brine and oil. The formulation was tested to both out crop and field rocks in the lab by maintaining reservoir conditions. More than 50% extra oil was obtained after water flood by using the best ASP formulation and the cumulative oil recovery obtained was more than 90% OOIP. The next step would be optimizing surfactant concentration and polymer concentration in the core flood process.

Project B: Improvement of aqueous stability by using crude oil and hydrocarbons

The main problem of most of the ASP and SP formulations is that the aqueous solution is unstable so that it cannot be injected in to a reservoir. The phase behavior may give ultralow IFT at desired salinity and conditions but in most of the cases the aqueous stability is not stable so not acceptable. To resolve this problem, we can change the surfactant and co-solvent to some extent but that will change the optimum salinity. To resolve this problem, the aqueous stability improvement by adding very less amount of hydrocarbons such as toluene, decane, tetradecane etc, and even crude oils is being studied. The study is still going on but such hydrocarbons and crude oils help significantly to improve the aqueous stability in most of the surfactant solution we studied.

Project C: SP and ASP formulations for carbonate reservoir at harsh condition

This research work was for a carbonate reservoir. The oil was very difficult to work with and the oil had lot of wax. This is a carbonate reservoir at 116C. The reservoir is of low permeability of the order of about 50 mD. By injecting water, the oil recovery obtained was about 50% OOIP.

The goal was to use surfactant formulations which forms ultralow interfacial between water and oil so that the trapped oil in the matrix can be mobilized and the oil recovery will increase more than 98% OOIP in lab scale. The oil was not much acidic so the addition of alkali can help but it requires softening of field brine so that both the SP and ASP methods can be equally promising. Many single surfactant and surfactant combinations to find best SP and ASP formulations was studied. Many corefloods were conducted to test the best surfactant formulations and the oil recovery was very promising with even SP formulation. Our target was to use the surfactants that are environmentally friendly, so that there would not be and safety and environmental concern with the use of such surfactants. This project was one-year project and the final report has been submitted recently. Few more works on the aqueous stability improvement in the formulations is being studied.

Recently completed ASP and SP core flood Projects at UT Austin

My recent contribution in the area of ASP and SP formulation and oil recovery has been published. Please, read some of my latest contributions to the area of ASP and SP formulations and core flood in the following articles:

1. K Panthi, U Weerasooriya, KK Mohanty (2020). Enhanced Recovery of a Viscous Oil with a Novel Surfactant. Fuel, 2020, 282, 118882.

2. K Panthi, U Weerasooriya, KK Mohanty (2019). Chemical Flood of a Viscous oil with Novel Surfactant. SPE Annual Techical Conference and Exhibition. Cakgary, Canada, September 2019.

3. Himanshu Sharma, Krishna Panthi, Pinaki Ghosh, Upali Weerasooriya, Kishore Mohanty. 2018. Novel Surfactants without Hydrocarbon Chains for Chemical EOR. SPE Improved Oil Recovery Conference, Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 2018.

4.Himanshu Sharma, Krishna Panthi, Kishore Mohanty. 2018. Surfactant-less Alkali-cosolvent-polymer Floods for an Acidic Crude Oil. Fuel, 2018, 215, 484.

Other research areas of my contribution:

  • Phase behavior study for ultralow IFT between oil and water
  • Synthesis of surfactants such as anionic surfactants and Gemini surfactants
  • Polymer composites of sand
  • Polymeric nanoparticles
  • Polymer composite of magnetic nanoparticles
  • Gas flood, WAG, and PWAG
  • Preformed particle gel
  • Delay of acid release
  • Delay of particles release
  • Viscoelastic surfactants i.e.; worm-like surfactants
  • Acid diverting systems
View Resume

KRISHNA K PANTHI

 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. / 419-377-2661

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HIGHLIGHTS:

  • PhD in Chemistry, MS in Chemistry and BS in Chemistry/Biology;
  • 10+ years’ experience in Enhanced oil recovery, including hands-on laboratory synthesis, blending and testing surfactants and polymers for EOR applications
  • 9+ years’ experience in synthesizing cationic surfactants by amine quaternization;
  • 7 years’ experience in synthesizing different anionic surfactants from alkoxylates by using the methods such as sulfation, carboxylation, sulfonation and so on.
  • Hands on skill on MS, MALDI-TOF, NMR, HPLC, Rheometer, ion chromatogram, Dynamic light scattering instrument and etc;
  • Proven track record of 30+ peer review articles and patents;
  • Good problem-solver, self-motivated, strong multi-task ability with minimized supervision;
  • Specialities: Chemical synthesis, EOR, surfactants, polymers, hydrogels, nanoparticles and microparticles

EDUCATION:

  • PhD: Chemistry (Organic Chemistry), Bowling Green State University (BGSU), Ohio. Graduated in May 2011
  • MS: Organic Chemistry, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal, Sept 1996

 EXPERIENCE:

Research Associate, UT Austin                                                                           Jan 2014- present

  • Synthesizing surfactants by using techniques such as quaternization of amines, sulfation, carboxylation, sulfonation and acylation of alkoxylate surfactants.
  • Surfactant phase behavior studies with different crude oils to find ultralow interfacial tension (IFT) between water and oil and coreflood experiments to see their efficacy for EOR processes
  • Synthesis of higher salinity swelling and higher salinity shrinking polymeric particles for the blocking to high permeability zone of reservoir.
  • Encapsulation and controlled release of any hydrophilic particles or hydrophilic solution
  • CO2 and CO2 alternating water floods.

Postdoctoral Research Associate, UT Austin                                                   Jan 2011-Jan 2014

  • Synthesizing surfactants by using techniques such as quaternization of amines, sulfation, carboxylation, sulfonation and acylation of alkoxylate surfactants
  • Surfactant phase behavior studies with different crude oils to find ultralow interfacial tension (IFT) between water and oil and coreflood experiments to see their efficacy for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes
  • Synthesis of organic nanoparticles and core flood for EOR applications
  • Blending of iron nanoparticles with polymers for conformance control application in fractured reservoirs
  • CO2/Low pH sensitive gel for EOR applications

Research Assistant, BGSU Ohio                                                                        Aug 2006-Dec 2010

  • Synthesizing electron donor acceptor compounds for organic solar cells and OLEDs applications
  • Study of photochemistry of other small strained ring compounds 

ACHIEVEMENTS:                                                          

  • Graduate Student Research and Professional Development Award, Fall 2009.                                                                                                                 
  • Graduate Assistantship, BGSU, Department of Chemistry, August 2006-December 2010.
  • CPGE Staff Excellence Award 2019.

PRESENTATIONS:

  • 2018 AOCS Annual Meeting & ExPO, Minneapolis, Minnesota: “Oil Compatible Cylindrical Micelles at a Very Wide Range of Temperatures and Salinities”. Panthi, K.; Sharma, H., Mohanty, K.K. Oral Presentation.
  • 2018 ATCE Annual Meeting, Dallas: High Salinity Swelling Polymeric Particles for EOR”. Panthi, K.; Sharma, H.; Lashgari, H.; Mohanty, K. K. Oral Presentation.
  • 2018 AOCS Annual Meeting & ExPO, Minneapolis, Minnesota: “Surfactants and Additives in Enhanced Oil Recovery and Oilfield Application”. Panthi, K.; Sharma, H., Mohanty, K.K. Oral Presentation.
  • 91st ACS colloid ACS colloid and Surface Symposium, New York: “Encapsulation and controlled-release using particle-stabilized water-in-air powders”. Panthi, K.; Singh, R., Mohanty, K.K. Oral Presentation.
  • IOR 2016, SPE Improved Oil Recovery Conference, Tulsa: “Salinity-Sensitive Polymeric Particles for EOR”. Panthi, K.; Mohanty, K.K. Oral Presentation.
  • ATCE 2015, SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, Houston: Oral Presentation on: “Precision Control of Gel Formation Using Superparamagnetic Nanoparticle-Based Heating” Panthi, K.; Mohanty, K.K., Huh, C. Oral Presentation.                                                               
  • ATCE 2013, SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, New Orleans: Oral Presentation on: “ASP Flood of a Viscous Oil in a Carbonate Rock” Panthi, K.; Sharma, S.; Mohanty, K.K. Oral Presentation.
  • ACS 240th National Meeting, 2010, Boston: Presenting Poster on “New Carbazole, Indole, and Diphenylamine Based Emissive Compounds: Synthesis, Photophysical Properties, and Formation of Nanoparticles” Panthi, K.; Kinstle, T. H. Poster Presentation.
  • ACS 42nd Central Regional Meeting Dayton, spring, 2010: Presenting Poster on “Carbazole Donor and Carbazole or Bithiophene Bridged Sensitizers for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell.” Panthi, K.; Onicha, A. C.; Castellano, F. N.; Kinstle, T. H. Poster Presentation.
  • ACS 238thNational Meeting, 2009, Washington DC: Oral Presentation on “Carbazole Donor-Carbazole Linker based Compounds: Preparation, Photophysical Properties and Formation of Fluorescent Nanoparticles.” Panthi, K.; Adhikari, R. M.; Kinstle, T. H. Oral Presentation.
  • ACS 40th Central Regional Meeting Columbus, spring, 2008: Poster Presentation on “Mechanism of Photochemical Ring Opening of Bicyclopentyl and Oxabicyclopentyl Aryl Ketones.” Panthi, K.; Kinstle, T. H. Poster Presentation.                                                                                                                                       

Publications List 

  • Panthi, K.; Sharma, H.; Weerasooriya, U.; Mohanty, K. Oil-Tolerant Nonionic Worm-like Micellar Solution. 2020. ACS omega 5(48), 30825.
  • B. Zhao; Panthi, K.; Mohanty, K. K. Tracer Eluting Proppants for Hydraulic Fracture Characterization. 2020. JPSE 190, 107048.
  • Singh R.; Songyang, T, Panthi, K.; Mohanty, K. K. Stimulation of Calcite-Rich Shales Using Nanoparticles-Microencapsulated Acids. 2019. One Petro, SPE-195695-PA.
  • Singh R.; Songyang, T, Panthi, K.; Mohanty, K. K. Nanoparticle-Encapsulated Acids for stimulation of Calcite-Rich Shales. 2018.  DOI 10.15530/urtec-2018-2897114.Conference: Unconventional Resources Technology Conference (URTeC).
  • Panthi, K.; Sharma, H.; Lashgari, H.; Mohanty, K. K. High Salinity Swelling Polymeric Particles for EOR. 2018. Conference: ATCE.
  • Sharma, H.; Panthi, K.; Ghosh, Pinaki; Mohanty, K. K. Novel Surfactants without Hydrocarbon Chains for Chemical EOR.2018. 2118/190232-MS.Conference: SPE Improved Oil Recovery Conference.
  • Sharma, H.; Panthi, K.; Mohanty, K. K. Surfactant-less alkali-cosolvent-polymer floods for an acidic crude oil. Fuel 2018, 215, 484-491.
  • Singh, R.; Panthi, K.; Mohanty, K. K. Microencapsulation of Acids by Nanoparticles for Acid Treatment of Shales. Energy & Fuels 2017, 31 (11),11755-11764.
  • Panthi, K.; Mohanty, K. K. pH-insensitive Polymeric Particles for Enhanced Oil Recovery in Reservoirs with Fractures. One Petro, SPE-179627-PA.
  • Panthi, K.; Zhao, B.; Singh, R.; Mohanty, K. K. Chemical Eluting Proppants for Hydraulic Fracturing. Patent filed.
  • Panthi, K.; Singh, R.; Mohanty, K. K. Microencapsulation and Stimuli-Responsive Controlled Release of Particles Using Water-in-Air Powders. Langmuir, 2017, 33, 3998-4010.
  • Panthi, K.; Clemens, T.; Mohanty, K. K. Development of an ASP Formulation for a Sandstone Reservoir with Divalent Cations. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2016, 145, 482-391.
  • Panthi, K.; Mohanty, K.K. Controlled Time-Dealy or Targeted Swelling/Releasing of Chemical Reagents Using Nanoparticles. (US Patent Filed).
  • Panthi, K.; Mohanty, K.K. Salinity-Sensitive Polymeric Particles for EOR. One Petro, SPE-179627-MS.
  • Panthi, K.; Sharma, H.; Mohanty, K. K. ASP Flood of a Viscous Oil in a Carbonate Rock. Journal of FUEL, 2016, 164, 18-27.
  • Panthi, K.; Mohanty, K. K.; Huh, C. Precision Control of Gel Formation Using Superparamagnetic Nanoparticle-Based Heating. One petro, SPE Error! Reference source not found.-MS.
  • Xue, Z.; Panthi, K.; Fei, Y.; Johnston, K. P.; Mohanty, K. K. CO2-​Soluble Ionic Surfactants and CO2 Foams for High-​Temperature and High-​Salinity Sandstone Reservoirs. Energy and Fuels.
  • Luo, H.; Panthi, K.; Delshad, M.; Sepehrnoori, K. 2015. A Robust Geochemical Simulator to Model Improved Oil Recovery Methods. One Petro, SPE-173211-PA.
  • Panthi, K.; Mohanty, K. K. Gemini Cationic Surfactants for Enhanced Oil Recovery. Patent filed.
  • Panthi, K.; Mohanty, K. K. Light Weight Proppants in Rock Fracturing. Patent.
  • Panthi, K.; Mohanty, K. K.; Huh, C.2015. Methods and Compositions for Conformance Control using of Temperature-Triggered Polymer Gel with Magnetic Nanoparticles. US patent. WO 2015047908
  • Panthi, K.; Sharma, H.; Mohanty, K. K. 2013. ASP Flood of a Viscous Oil in a Carbonate Rock. One Petro. SPE 166230.
  • Panthi, K.; Mohanty, K. K. Triblock Copolymers for Polymer Flood in Porous Media. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2014, 114, 52-60.
  • Panthi, K.; Mohanty, K. K. Effect of Alkaline Preflush in an Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer Flood. Energy and Fuels, 2013, 27, 764-771.
  • Panthi, K.; Kinstle, T. H. New Carbazole, Indole, and Diphenylamine-Based Emissive Compounds: Synthesis, Photophysical Properties, and Formation of Nanoparticles. Book published by Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany.
  • Onicha, A. C.; Panthi, K.; Kinstle, T. H, Castellano, F. N. Carbazole Donor and Carbazole or Bithiophene-Bridged Sensitizers for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell. Photochem. Photobiol. A: Chem. 2011, 223, 57-64.
  • Panthi, K.; Adhikari, R. M.; Kinstle, T. H. Aromatic Fumaronitrile Core-Based Donor-Linker-Acceptor-Linker-Donor (D-π-A-π-D) compounds: Synthesis and Photophysical Properties. Phys. Chem. A. 2010, 114, 4542-5549.
  • Panthi, K.; Adhikari, R. M.; Kinstle, T. H. Carbazole Donor-Carbazole Linker-Based Compounds: Preparation, Photophysical Properties and Formation of Fluorescent Nanoparticles. Phys. Chem. A. 2010, 114, 4550-4557.
  • Panthi, K.; Adhikari, R. M.; Kinstle, T. H. Visible and Near IR emitting Organic Nanoparticles of Aromatic Fumaronitrile Core Based Donor-Acceptor Compounds. Photochem. Photobiol. A: Chem. 2010, 215, 179-184.
  • Panthi, K.; El-Khoury, P. Z.; Tarnovsky, A. N.; Kinstle, T. H. Synthesis and Computational Studies of Diphenylamine Donor-Carbazole Linker-Based Donor-Acceptor Compounds. Tetrahedron. 2010, 51, 9641-9649.