169: Dalma Cerro Arrieta
In this episode, we sit down with Dalma Cerro Arrieta, a petroleum engineer and PhD candidate at UT Austin, to discuss her journey through the geosciences. Dalma shares her path from studying at a public school in northern Colombia to learning Portuguese in three months for a Master's degree in Brazil, and eventually transitioning to a PhD program in Texas. The conversation dives into the technical details of geomechanics, her time working for Petrobras in the Brazilian pre-salt layers, and her current research using NMR and resistivity logs to estimate permeability in complex carbonates.
Episode Highlights:
00:00:00 - Origins & Education: Dalma discusses growing up in Colombia and her early interest in organic chemistry before shifting her focus to petroleum engineering at the National University in Medellín.
00:04:17 - A Life-Changing Encounter: Dalma explains how volunteering at a university geomechanics conference led to a meeting with a Brazilian professor, resulting in a master's degree offer in Brazil.
00:05:51 - Geomechanics Simplified: A breakdown of earth mechanics, wellbore stability, and how mud weight is used to prevent well fractures and keep fluids inside the rocks.
00:09:35 - Rock Frackability: An exploration of the rock properties used in frack modeling, including Poisson's ratio and Young's modulus.
00:11:17 - Innovative Fracking Concepts: A discussion on a patented, non-traditional "kinetic frac" method that utilizes expanding CO2 bubbles to shatter rock.
00:16:48 - Industry Experience at Petrobras: Dalma shares her experience working on wellbore stability in Brazil, specifically focusing on the challenges of drilling through salt seals to reach presalt carbonate reservoirs.
00:18:28 - The Journey to UT Austin: The story of how Dalma relocated to Austin to learn English, eventually passing her GRE and TOEFL exams to begin her PhD in formation evaluation.
00:21:15 - Permeability in Complex Carbonates: Insights into Dalma's current research on combining Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and electrical resistivity logs to navigate the challenges of micropores and heterogeneous rock.
00:22:22 - Protecting NMR Data: Practical advice on using ditch magnets in mud tank possum bellies to clear out iron and prevent electrical field disturbances during NMR logging.
00:24:26 - Leadership in SPWLA: Dalma highlights the importance of the UT Austin SPWLA student chapter for building networking skills, forcing student engagement, and connecting academia with industry professionals.
00:31:21 - Demystifying Wettability: A concise explanation of wettability and how rock mineralogy determines its affinity for holding oil versus water.