Duties: Research the structures and chemical properties of various materials, including tar sand and oil shale, for the purpose of developing a prototype radio frequency (RF) heating device to enhance oil recovery. Devise testing methods to evaluate the effects of various conditions on materials, including using radio-frequency (RF) heating equations and petroleum reservoir models to model the production of heavy oil in tar sands by in-situ RF heating. Derive differential equations and set boundary conditions to solve equations by software for petroleum reservoir engineering and for optimizing the design of RF heaters for oil wells. Design and set up experiments to measure properties of heavy oils and of components of heaters for heavy oils, and evaluate results of experiments for scale up using computer models.

Requirements: Masters in Chemical Engineering, & 2 years of experience in job offered or as Chemical Research Engineer or as Research Associate. Any background must include research experience in oil & gas industry; modeling and simulation using partial differential equations of chemical engineering processes for heat transfer and fluid flow; design and execution of experiments on chemical processes for fluid flow and heat transfer; Comsol, Matlab, Fortran and VB Excel, and background in Maxwell equations. Travel required to various laboratory and test sites throughout the United States.

Contact: Richard Snow, Chief Scientist, 5000 S. Cornell Ave., 18C, Chicago, IL 60615. rsnow@pyrophase.com