Dr James Minto
Strathclyde Chancellor's Fellow
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Personal statement
Personal statement
I am a Chancellor's Fellow in the Civil & Environmental Engineering department where I work on developing low viscosity alternative grouting materials for subsurface engineering works and investigate fundamental flow processes in fractured and porous media.
One such grout we are developing utilises naturally occurring soil bacteria Sporosarcina pasteurii to produce calcium carbonate via a biochemical reaction. The process is termed microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) and is an exciting and multidisciplinary field combining microbiology, geology, hydraulics and subsurface engineering with the potential, for certain applications, to replace the use of cement and chemical grouts with a less expensive, less toxic and low CO2 “bio-grout”.
Our aim is to develop the MICP process for rock fracture sealing and ground improvement then demonstrate the feasibility of the process at the large scale. Our work combines micro-scale experiments characterised by 4D X-ray CT with large scale laboratory experiments and multi-scale numerical modelling.
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Prize And Awards
- MDPI Energies poster competition
- Recipient
- 25/5/2023
- Winner of the Outstanding Student and PhD candidate Presentation
- Recipient
- 28/4/2023
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Publications
- Exploiting induced carbonate precipitation to improve reservoir storage integrity and geothermal system efficiency
- Salter Philip, Dobson Katherine J, Minto James
- InterPore 2024 (2024)
- Meter-scale MICP improvement of medium graded very gravelly sands : lab measurement, transport modelling, mechanical and microstructural analysis
- Sang Guijie, Lunn Rebecca J, El Mountassir Grainne, Minto James M
- Engineering Geology Vol 324 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2023.107275
- Transport and fate of ureolytic Sporosarcina pasteurii in saturated sand columns: experiments and modelling
- Sang Guijie, Lunn Rebecca J, El Mountassir Grainne, Minto James M
- Transport in Porous Media Vol 149, pp. 599-624 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-023-01973-x
- Exploiting induced carbonate precipitation to improve reservoir storage integrity and geothermal system efficiency
- Salter Philip, Dobson Katherine J, Minto James
- ToScA UK & Europe Symposium (2023)
- Treatment of fractured concrete via microbially induced carbonate precipitation : from micro-scale characteristics to macro-scale behaviour
- Turner Ronald, Castro Gloria M, Minto James, El Mountassir Grainne, Lunn Rebecca J
- Construction and Building Materials Vol 384 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.131467
- Contaminated or just dusty? Understanding the nature of contaminants found in biomass grown on historic mine sites to inform pre-treatment options
- Nunn Benjamin, Lord Richard, Minto James, Davidson Christine, Manzoor Neelam
- EGU General Assembly 2023 (2023)
- https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu23-1006
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Professional Activities
- 3D & 4D imaging - key skills for the Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences
- Invited speaker
- 18/3/2024
- GeoNetZero XCT Training course
- Invited speaker
- 5/6/2023
- 3D & 4D imaging - key skills for the Earth, Environmental & Planetary Sciences
- Invited speaker
- 20/3/2023
- BTG Workshop - Net-Zero
- Participant
- 18/5/2022
- XCT Imaging and Analysis Training Course
- Invited speaker
- 4/4/2022
- Calcite Biomineralisation for the Repair of Damaged Concrete
- Contributor
- 20/9/2021
Projects
- Introducing a method for stability analysis of the bimrock slopes by physical and 3D numerical modeling
- Minto, James (Principal Investigator) Pytharouli, Stella (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 01-Jan-2026
- Investigating novel fluid injection approaches for CO2 storage optimisation (IDRIC Flex Proposal)
- Minto, James (Principal Investigator) Roberts, Jen (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2023 - 29-Jan-2024
- EPSRC Core Equipment: Thermal characterisation for engineering and geological materials
- Minto, James (Principal Investigator) Burnside, Neil (Principal Investigator) Dobson, Kate (Principal Investigator)
- EPSRC Core Equipment grant for a thermal conductivity meter and gas pycnometer to allow thermal characterisation of engineering and geological materials.
£63,919 (inc. VAT) - 01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2023
- Development of novel grouting technology for subsurface engineering & the net-zero carbon revolution
- Minto, James (Principal Investigator) Pedrotti, Matteo (Co-investigator) Roden, Jack (Post Grad Student)
- SRSS PhD studenstship - This lab-based project focuses on developing micron- and nano-scale technology to create novel grouts for enhancing the hydro-mechanical properties of the subsurface.
- 01-Jan-2021 - 01-Jan-2025
- Pulsed fluid pumping for remediation of leakage from geological storage
- Minto, James (Principal Investigator) Roberts, Jen (Co-investigator) Edlmann, Katriona (Co-investigator) Shipton, Zoe (Co-investigator) Eriksson, Sandra (Post Grad Student)
- 01-Jan-2020 - 01-Jan-2024
- Mobile X-ray/MRI/PET cells to image 4D fluid flow in porous media
- Minto, James (Principal Investigator) Pagano, Arianna Gea (Co-investigator) El Mountassir, Grainne (Co-investigator)
- This is a modular and configurable system that enables injection of liquids through porous media (such as sand packs, glass bead packs, and cylindrical rock cores), is compatible with X-ray, MRI and PET imaging, and is suitable for reactive flow experiments e.g. mineral precipitation, dissolution, and biofilm growth.
The main components of this equipment are:
1) Two dual piston isocratic injection pumps (Watrex DeltaChrom P102). Flows from 0.01 to 10 mL/min, 10 MPa max pressure, PEEK flow path for chemical compatability, no limit of injection volume, with pulse dampener.
2) Dual channel syringe pump (Chemyx Fusion 4000) offering pulseless and programmable injection/extraction at extremely low flow rates, volume limited by syringe volume, pressure limited by syringe type.
3) PEEK HPLC columns of various lengths and diameters (30mm length, 4.6mm internal diameter, 100 x 4.6, 250 x 4.6, 50 x 7.5). 10 MPa max pressure. Can be packed with loose sand or glass beads and imaged with X-ray/MRI/PET, but more suitable for X-rays due to their small size.
4) In-house designed and built 1" (25.4 mm) rock core holder. Max pressure 4 MPa at 25 °C. Can be imaged with X-ray/MRI/PET.
5) Digital pressure transducers continuously recording inlet pressure, outlet pressure, and confining fluid pressure (for rock core holders) allowing measurement of permeability.
6) Range of fittings, tubing, backpressure regulators, and sample injection options.
7) Computer for recording data and controlling pumps.
8) Mobile system intended to be moved to different imaging facilities. - 01-Jan-2018
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Contact
Dr
James
Minto
Strathclyde Chancellor's Fellow
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Email: james.minto@strath.ac.uk
Tel: Unlisted