University of Southern California Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science The USC Andrew and Erna Viterbi School of Engineering USC
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Muhammad Sahimi


NIOC Professor 

Muhammad Sahimi


Research Topics
  • Dynamic Properties of Heterogeneous Materials
  • Characterization and Modelling of Fractured Rock
  • Multiphase Flow, Dispersion, and Displacement Processes in Porous Media
  • Diffusion, Reaction and Decativation in Porous Catalysts
  • Transport, Adsorption and Separation of Fluid Mixtures in Nanoporous Membranes
  • Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo Simultions
  • Discrete Stochastic Modelling of Biological Phenomena

Research Overview
Dynamic Properties of Heterogeneous Materials
We have been using large-scale Monte Carlo simulations, as well as analytical approximations and techniques, such as the effective-medium approximation, and position-space renormalization group method, for computing and predicting the effective transport and mechanical properties of disordered materials, as well as their fracture and failure properties. In particular, we have been studying two-phase heterogeneous materials. In such materials, the interconnectivity of the microscopic elements of the phases plays a fundamental role in determining the macroscopic or effective properties of the materials. The connectivity properties are quantified by Percolation Theory.

Characterization and Modelling of Fractured Rock
Modern concepts, such as fractal geometry, wavelet transformations, and simulated annealing are being used to characterize and model the geology of fractured rock. The goal is to develop realistic models of such systems, and then up-scale the models for use in large-scale simulation of flow processes in fractured rock.

Multiphase Flow, Dispersion, and Displacement Processes in Porous Media
We are studying two- and three-phase flows in disordered porous media, using network models to study these phenomena at laboratory scales, and large-scale coarsened models to investigate these phenomena at large (field) scales. In addition, we are studying dispersion processes in flow through field-scale porous media, as they relate to contamination of groundwater. We are also developing efficient and accurate simulators for predicting gas generation and transport in landfills and the soil that surrounds them.

Diffusion, Reaction and Decativation in Porous Catalysts
Transport, reaction and deactivation are important phenomena that occur in porous catalysts. We have been studying such phenomena using pore network models of catalysts and large-scale computer simulations. The goal is developing a comprehensive model of such phenomena that occur in porous catalysts, so that the model can be used for optimizing the performance of catalysts.

Transport, Adsorption and Separation of Fluid Mixtures in Nanoporous Membranes
In collaboration with Professor Theodore T. Tsotsis of our Department and industrial colleagues, we a have been preparing and characterizing three types of nanoporous membranes for separation of fluid mixtures into their constituents. The three types of membranes are carbon molecular-sieve membranes, silicon carbide membranes, and pillared clay membranes, each having their own distinct properties that can be exploited for for a variety of operating conditions.

Molecular Dynamics and Monte Carlo Simultions
We are using equilibrium and non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations, as well as Monte Carlo simulations, to develop atomistic and molecular models of nanoporous membranes and other materials.

Discrete Stochastic Modelling of Biological Phenomen
Biological systems are perhaps the most complex, and in many ways disordered, media that Nature has created. The range of phenomena occurring in such systems is astonishingly broad and highly complex. Often, they seem to be chaotic. Over the past several years, it has become increasingly clear that the chaotic and complex behavior of many biological systems may be precisely characterized using fractal analysis, percolation concepts, and computer simulations. This possibility has become a prime motivation for us for undertaking research work on some biological problems in which the expertise of our research group in modelling disordered systems can be fruitfully used. We have been studying two important problems in this area, which are modeling natural immune systems, and understanding the spatial distribution and the dynamics of cell production in the bone marrow. Traditionally, differential equations of population dynamics have been used to model such phenomena. However, such models provide information about the average properties, but cannot provide any insight into the effect of fluctuations and the spatial structure of the systems on the properties of both phenomena, whereas such factors play a key role in the dynamics of the phenomena. Most appropriate for understanding the effect of the fluctuations and the spatial structure of the environment are discrete or cellular automata models in which a lattice site can take on a small number of states, and its evolution at the next time step depends on its present state and the environment around it, and these are the models that our group has been pursuing. 
Contact Information

Web Site: 
E-mail:                       
moe@usc.edu
Mailing Address:      
Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
University of Southern California
925 Bloom Walk, HED 205
Los Angeles, CA 90089-1211                   
Office Location:       
HED 205
Office Phone:          
(213)740-2064
Fax:                         
(213) 740-8053 

 
Education

Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 1984
B.S., Chemical Engineering, the University of Tehran, 1977

 
Research Images

   
   


Selected Publications
I. BOOKS

Heterogeneous Materials. Volume I: Linear Transport and Optical Properties; Volume II: Nonlinear and Breakdown Properties, and Atomistic Modelling (Springer-Verlag, New York, 2003).

Flow and Transport in Porous Media and Fractured Rock (VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 1995).

Applications of Percolation Theory (Taylor and Francis, London, 1994).

II. PAPERS

M. Sahimi, M. Naderian, and F. Ebrahimi, "Efficient Simulation of AC Conduction in Heterogeneous Materials at Low Temperatures," Physical Review B, 71, 09420811-094208/7 (2005).

M. Sahimi and S.E. Tajer, "Self-Affine Distributions of the Bulk Density, Elastic Moduli, and Seismic Wave Velocities of Rock," Physical Review E, 71, 040301/1-046301/8 (2005).

F. Shahbazi, A. Bahraminasab, S.M. Vaez Allaei, M. Sahimi, and M.R. Rahimi Tabar, "Localization of Elastic Waves in Heterogeneous Media with Off-Diagonal Disorder and Long-Range Correlations," Phys. Rev. Let., 94, 165505/1 - 165505/4 (2005)

J. Ghassemzadeh and M. Sahimi, "Pore Network Simulation of Fluid Imbibition into Paper During Coating II: Characterization of Paper's Morphology and Computation of its Effective Permeability Tensor," Chemical Engineering Science 59, 2265-2280 (2004).

J. Ghassemzadeh and M. Sahimi, "Pore Network Simulation of Fluid Imbibition into Paper During Coating III: Modeling of the Two-Phase Flow," Chemical Enginf3ering Science 59, 2281-2296 (2004).

E.N. Oskoee, M.R.H. Khajehpour, and M. Sahimi, "Numerical Simulation of a Continuum Model of Growth of Thin Composite Films," Physical Review E 69, 061606/1-061606/4 (2004).

F. Ebrahimi and M. Sahimi, "Multiresolution Wavelet Scale Up of Unstable Miscible Displacements in Flow Through Heterogeneous Porous Media," Transport in Porous Media 57, 75-102 (2004).

A. Heidarinasab, B. Dabir, and M. Sahimi, "Multiresolution Wavelet-Based Simulation of Transport and Photochemical Reactions in the Atmosphere," Atmospheric Environment 38, 6381- 6397 (2004).

M. Sahimi, A. Heidarinasab, and B. Dabir, "Computer Simulation of Conduction in Heterogeneous Materials: Application of Wavelet Transformation," Chemical Engineering Science 59, 4291-4303 (2004).

M. Firouzi, Kh. Molaai Nezhad, T. T. Tsotsis, and M. Sahimi, "Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Transport and Separation of Carbon Dioxide-Alkane Mixtures in Carbon Nanopores," Journal of Chemical Physics 120, 8172-8185 (2004).

Y. Kim, W. Yang, P. K. T. Liu, M. Sahimi and T. T.Tsotsis, "Thermal Evolution of the Structure of a Mg-AI-CO3 Layered Double Hydroxide. Sorption Reversibility Aspects," Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research 43, 4559-4570 (2004).

J. Ghassemzadeh and M. Sahimi, "Molecular Moiling of Adsorption of Gas Mixtures in Montmorillonites Intercolated with Al13-complex Pillars," Molecular Physics 102, 1447-1467 (2004).

M. Madadi and M. Sahimi, "Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Fluid Flow in Fracture Networks with Rough, Self-Affine Surfaces," Physical Review E 67, 026309-1-026309-12 (2003).

S.Y. Lim, T.T. Tsotsis, and M. Sahimi, "Molecular Simulation of Diffusion and Sorption of Gases in an Amorphous Polymer," Journal of Chemical Physics 119, 496-504 (2003).

M. Firouzi, T. T. Tsotsis, and M. Sahimi "Nonequilibrium Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Transport and Separation of Supercritical Fluid Mixtures in Nanoporous Membranes I: Results for a Single Carbon Nanopore," Journal of Chemical Physics 119, 6810-6822 (2003).

M. Madadi, C. DeW. Van Siclen, and M. Sahimi, "Fluid Flow and Conduction in Fractures with Rough, Self-Affine Surfaces," Journal of Geophysical Research 108, 2396-2405 (2003)

M. Dadvar and M. Sahimi, "Pore Network Model of Deactivation of Immobilized Glucose Isomerase in Packed-Bed Reactors III: Multiscale Modeling," Chemical Engineering Science 58, 4935-4951 (2003).

E. Nedaaee Oskoee and M. Sahimi, "Phase Diagrams and Scaling Regimes for a Continuum

M.A. Knackstedt, M. Sahimi, and A.P. Sheppard, "Nonuniversality of Invasion Percolation in Two-Dimensional Systems," Physical Review E (Rapid Communication) 65, 035101-1-035101-4 (2002).


M. Saadatfar and M. Sahimi, "Diffusion in Disordered Media with Long-Range Correlations: Anomalous, Fickian, and Superdiffusive Transport and Log-Periodic Oscillations," Physical Review E 65, 036116-1-036116-8 (2002).


M. Hashemi, H.I. Kavak, T.T. Tsotsis, and M. Sahimi, "Computer Simulation of Gas Generation and Transport in Landfills I: Quasi-Steady-State Condition," Chemical Engineering Science 54, 2475-2501 (2002).


W. Yang, Y. Kim, P.K.T. Liu, M. Sahimi, and T.T. Tsotsis, "Study by In-situ Techniques of the Thermal Evolution of the Structure of Mg-Al-CO3 Layered Double Hydroxide," Chemical Engineering Science 57, 2945-2953 (2002).


M. Dadvar and M. Sahimi, "Pore Network Model of Deactivation of Immobilized Glucose Isomerase in Packed-Bed Reactors. II: Three-Dimensional Simulations at the Particle Level," Chemical Engineering Science 57, 939-952 (2002).


M. Dadvar, M. Sohrabi, and M. Sahimi, "Pore Network Model of Deactivation of Immobilized Glucose Isomerase in Packed-Bed Reactors I: Two-Dimensional Simulations at the Particle Level," Chemical Engineering Science 56, 1-17 (2001).


M.A. Knackstedt, A.P. Sheppard, and M. Sahimi, "Pore Network Modeling of Two-Phase Flow in Porous Rock: The Effect of Correlated Heterogeneity," Advances in Water Resources 24, 257-278 (2001).


J. Ghassemzadeh, M. Hashemi, L. Sartor, and M. Sahimi, "Pore Network Simulation of Fluid Imbibition into Paper During Coating Processes: I. Model Development," AIChE Journal 47, 519-535 (2001).


M. Sahimi and M. Hashemi, "Wavelet Identification of the Spatial Distribution of Fractures," Geophysical Research Letters 28, 611-614 (2001).


L. Xu, T.T. Tsotsis, and M. Sahimi, "Statistical Mechanics and Molecular Simulation of Adsorption of Ternary Gas Mixtures in Nanoporous Materials," Journal of Chemical Physics 114, 7196-7210 (2001).


M. Sahimi, "Characterization and Modeling of Oil Reservoirs and Groundwater Aquifers: Application of Wavelet Transformations," Granular Matter 3, 3-14 (2001).


M.A. Knackstedt, S.J. Marrink, A.P. Sheppard, W.V. Pinczewski, and M. Sahimi, "Invasion Percolation on Correlated and Elongated Lattices: Implications for the Interpretation of Residual Saturations in Rock Cores," Transport in Porous Media 44, 465-485 (2001).  

Xu, M.G. Sedigh, T.T. Tsotsis, and M. Sahimi, "Non-Equilibrium Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Transport and Separation of Gases in Carbon Nanopores. II. Binary and Ternary Mixtures and Comparison with Experimental Data," Journal of Chemical Physics 112, 910-922 (2000).

M.A. Knackstedt, M. Sahimi, and A.P. Sheppard, "Invasion Percolation with Long-Range Correlation: First-order Phase Transition and Nonuniversal Scaling Properties," Physical Review E 61, 4920-4934 (2000).

J. Ghassemzadeh, L. Xu, T.T. Tsotsis and M. Sahimi, "Statistical Mechanics and Molecular Simulation of Adsorption of Gas Mixtures in Microporous Materials: Pillared Clays and Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes," Journal of Physical Chemistry B 104, 3892-3905 (2000).

S. Mukhopadhyay and M. Sahimi, "Calculation of the Effective Permeabilities of Field-Scale Porous Media," Chemical Engineering Science 55, 4495-4513 (2000).

M. Sahimi, "Fractal-Wavelet-Neural Network Approach to Characterization and Upscaling of Fractured Reservoirs," Computers and Geosciences 26, 877-905 (2000).

V. Suwanmethanond, E. Goo, P.K.T. Liu, G. Johnson, M. Sahimi and T.T. Tsotsis, "Porous SiC Sintered Substrates for High Temperature Membranes for Gas Separation," Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research 39, 3264-3271 (2000).

M.G. Sedigh, M. Jahangiri, P.K.T. Liu, M. Sahimi and T.T. Tsotsis, "Structural Characterization of Supported Polyetherimide-based Carbon Molecular Sieve Membranes," AIChE Journal 46, 2245-2255 (2000).