We transport stuff at small (really small!) scales to make big differences.

Welcome to the website of the Transport at the Microscale Research Group of the University of Calgary. This lab, led by Dr. Benneker, focuses on experimental investigations of transport at the microscopic length scale, with applications at the macroscale. Transport phenomena are important for many different applications, such as water desalination, chemical reactions and separations. Enhancement of transport of particles and species is important for the energy efficiency and intensification of these processes. The work done in the group involves the manipulation of fluid and species transport using gradients in electrical potential, temperature and solute concentration. For fundamental understanding of transport phenomena at interfaces, experimental microfluidic investigations are conducted on model systems and compared to numerical models of the system. Applications of this research are in the fields of oil recovery, remediation of impacted soil, biochemical reactor engineering and produced water treatment.