daigle@austin.utexas.edu

512-471-3775

Office Location: GLT 4.210

Hugh Daigle

Associate Professor

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Centennial Fellowship #2

Research Areas
Energy Sustainability
Geologic Carbon Storage/Sequestration
Natural Gas Production
Oil Production and Resources
Water (Environmental Impacts)

Research Website

Educational Qualifications
AB, Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University, 2004
PhD, Earth Science, Rice University, 2011

Director
Sustainable Energy minor
Center for Subsurface Energy and the Environment

PGE Courses
PGE 381: Drilling Engineering
PGE 424: Petrophysics

Research
Dr. Daigle’s research focuses on characterizing physical and transport properties of rocks using a combination of laboratory experiments and numerical simulation. Specific areas of interest include methane hydrate formation and response to marine hydrate systems to external perturbations; petrophysical measurement and assessment techniques; applications of nanoparticles in subsurface engineering; and geohazard detection and prediction. His work is aimed at improving formation evaluation, completion design and production strategy.

Awards & Honors
Dean’s Award for Outstanding Engineering Teaching by an Assistant Professor, 2018.

UT PGE Outstanding Faculty Member Award, 2015.

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Centennial Fellowship #2, 2015.

SPE Regional Formation Evaluation Award, 2014.

Leroy Caleb Gibbon Award (best-conceived and best-written thesis submitted within 6 weeks of the oral defense), Rice University Department of Earth Science, 2011.

National Energy Technology Laboratory Methane Hydrate Research Fellowship, 2009–2011.

Outstanding Graduate Student Award, Rice University Department of Earth Science, 2010.

Outstanding Student Paper Award, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, 2008.

Highlighted Publications and Google Scholar Profile
Fukuyama, D., and Daigle, H., The effect of lithologic heterogeneity on diffusive methane migration in hydrate systems, Marine and Petroleum Geology, Volume 122, 104624, August 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpetgeo.2020.104624.

Daigle, H., Cook, A., Fang, Y., Bihani, A., Song, W., and Flemings, P.B., Gas-driven tensile fracturing in shallow marine sediments, Journal of Geophysical Research Solid Earth, Volume 125, Number 12, e2020JB020835, December 2020. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JB020835.

Daigle, H., Structure of the electrical double layer at the ice-water interface, The Journal of Chemical Physics, Volume 154, Number 21, 214703, June 2021. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0048817.

Bihani, A., Daigle, H., Santos, J.E., Landry, C., Prodanović, M., and Milliken, K., MudrockNet: Semantic segmentation of mudrock SEM images through deep learning, Computers and Geosciences, Volume 158, 104952, January 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2021.104952.

Hatchell, D., Song, W., and Daigle, H., Examining the role of salinity on the dynamic stability of Pickering emulsions, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 608, Part 3, 2321–2329, February 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2021.10.154.

Ramachandran, H., Plaza Faverola, A., and Daigle, H., Impact of gas saturation and gas column height at the base of the gas hydrate stability zone on fracturing and seepage at Vestnesa Ridge, West-Svalbard Margin, Energies, Volume 15, Number 9, 3156, April 2022. https://doi.org/10.3390/en15093156.

Daigle, H., Fang, Y., Phillips, S.C., and Flemings, P.B., Pore structure of sediments from Green Canyon 955 determined by mercury intrusion, AAPG Bulletin, Volume 106, Number 5, 1051–1069, May 2022. https://doi.org/10.1306/02262120123.

Carty, O.R., and Daigle, H., Microbial methane generation and implications for stability of shallow sediments on the upper slope, U.S. Atlantic margin, Frontiers in Earth Science, Volume 10, 835685, May 2022. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.835685.

Wang, N., Daigle, H., and Prodanović, M., Electromagnetic pigging in pipelines and production tubing aided by nanopaint, SPE Journal, Volume 27, Number 3, 1607–1618, June 2022. https://doi.org/10.2118/196112-PA.

Hatchell, D., Song, W., and Daigle, H., Effect of interparticle forces on the stability and droplet diameter of Pickering emulsions stabilized by PEG-coated silica nanoparticles, Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 626, 824–835, November 2022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2022.07.004.