Dr. Xiaoguang Wang

Biography

Xiaoguang Wang is a Professor of Geoenergy at Chengdu University of Technology (CDUT, China) and Director of Geothermal Energy Research Center at the Tianfu Yongxing Laboratory (China). He earned his PhD from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London (ICL, UK). Before joining CDUT, he was a researcher at the University of Montpellier (CNRS-Hydrosciences Montpellier, France).

His research group specializes in quantitative hydrogeology and geomechanics, integrating laboratory experiment, field characterization and numerical modeling to understand coupled processes in fractured and porous rocks. Their work is dedicated to addressing critical challenges in the areas of geoenergy and the environment, including geothermal energy development, geological carbon sequestration, subsurface energy storage and induced seismicity

Introduction of the Lecture

Modeling of coupled multi-physics processes across multiple time scales in fractured geological media

Numerical modeling of multi-physics coupled processes in fractured media helps us understand and address a wide range of geoscience and geoengineering problems. However, various physicochemical processes operate across vastly disparate time scales, which requires us to rigorously examine their intrinsic behaviors and coupled interactions. In this talk, we present a synthesis of our recent research advances in the modeling of coupled processes across varying time scales in fractured geological media. Taking karst genesis and evolution, geothermal energy development, and CO₂/H₂ geological storage as representative case studies, we will elaborate on how fractured geological systems evolve across multiple time scales, and how cross-scale interactions govern their macroscopic behaviors. Key scientific questions addressed in this work include: How can millisecond-scale accelerated fracture/fault rupture be triggered by stress perturbations induced by long-term pressure diffusion or heat transfer processes? How do secondary fractures transmit such stress perturbations through complex fracture networks, and further induce cascading slip responses at the network scale? How does long-term chemical dissolution widen fracture apertures, while rapid stress changes induce fracture closure and redistribute stresses along fracture surfaces and across fracture networks? These studies collectively contribute to establishing a unified theoretical perspective for understanding multi-physics coupled processes in fractured geological media. This work further establishes a scale-adaptive modeling framework that bridges fast transient dynamic events and engineering-scale long-term evolution of subsurface reservoirs over their operational lifecycle, and also enhancing the predictive reliability for a broad range of field-scale subsurface engineering applications.