{"689924":{"#nid":"689924","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Defense by Savannah L. Howard","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EIn partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDoctor of Philosophy in Ocean Science and Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESavannah L. Howard\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWill defend her dissertation\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFUNDAMENTAL HYDROGEOMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CARBONATE FORMATIONS: IMPLICATIONS FOR OFFSHORE COMPRESSED AIR ENERGY STORAGE\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMay 5th, 2026\u0026nbsp;at 8 AM\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFord ES\u0026amp;T, Room 3243 (The Ocean Room)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETeams: \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/meet\/252549462205277?p=eDS8aBGnt00SviVjBt\u0022 title=\u0022Meeting join\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/meet\/252549462205277?p=eDS8aBGnt00SviVjBt\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMeeting ID: 252 549 462 205 277\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPasscode: hx7Vz7zX\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThesis Advisors:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Sheng Dai\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee Members:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Philipp Braun\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ENavier Laboratory\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEcole des Ponts, Paris Tech (ENPC)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Kevin Haas\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Joseph Montoya\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Biological Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr. Zhigang Peng\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESummary:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe U.S. energy grid faces a critical storage challenge: renewable sources such as wind and solar generate electricity intermittently, while demand peaks occur independently of generation. Among available grid-scale storage technologies, Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) \u2014 which stores energy by compressing air underground and releases it through turbines on demand \u2014 offers the lowest levelized cost of storage of any current technology, surpassing batteries, pumped hydro, hydrogen, and thermal systems. Existing CAES plants (Huntorf, Germany; McIntosh, Alabama) use salt caverns, which are geographically restricted. Porous carbonate formations, distributed across the southeastern U.S. coastal zones where offshore wind and wave energy resources are abundant, offer a far more geographically widespread alternative \u2014 but their suitability as CAES reservoirs under realistic subsurface conditions has never been systematically characterized.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis dissertation presents a comprehensive laboratory characterization of three distinct carbonate formations - St. Maximin, Miami, and Hemingway. Experiments characterized the full suite of properties relevant to CAES viability, including mineralogy (XRD), density, total and accessible porosity, micro-CT pore imaging, permeability, ultrasonic wave speeds and elastic moduli, unconfined compressive strength and failure mode (via acoustic emissions), water retention curves, creep behavior, and cyclic loading response. Energy storage density was calculated directly from measured pore and mechanical properties and benchmarked against the two operating CAES plants. The results highlight that pore geometry and connectivity must be characterized jointly with porosity for meaningful CAES modeling; water retention and evaporation govern energy storage density; creep is saturation-dependent and operationally significant; and cyclic pressurization does not cause rapid structural and strength deterioration, but cumulative strain can lead to failure in long-term operation. Calculated energy storage densities for offshore carbonate CAES are competitive with, and in high-porosity cases exceed, those of existing salt cavern plants (~7.5\u201318 MJ\/m\u00b3), demonstrating the technical feasibility of porous carbonate formations as CAES reservoirs. The work establishes the first systematic experimental dataset for air\u2013water saturated carbonate reservoir media under CAES-relevant conditions, filling a critical gap in a field previously dominated by oil\u2013water and CO\u2082 storage studies. Findings directly inform site selection criteria, reservoir performance modeling, and operational safety assessments for future offshore CAES development in the southeastern U.S. \u2014 a region that combines abundant offshore renewable energy resources with extensive shallow carbonate geology.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFUNDAMENTAL HYDROGEOMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CARBONATE FORMATIONS: IMPLICATIONS FOR OFFSHORE COMPRESSED AIR ENERGY STORAGE\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"FUNDAMENTAL HYDROGEOMECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF CARBONATE FORMATIONS: IMPLICATIONS FOR OFFSHORE COMPRESSED AIR ENERGY STORAGE"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2026-04-21 17:25:49","changed_gmt":"2026-04-21 17:26:23","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2026-05-05T08:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2026-05-05T11:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2026-05-05T11:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2026-05-05 12:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2026-05-05 15:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2026-05-05 15:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"Ford ES\u0026T, Room 3243 (The Ocean Room)","extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"100811","name":"Phd Defense"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78771","name":"Public"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}