Expert: Mark Janus - 6/7/2011

Question
QUESTION: Do you understand flow rate as it applies to oil gushing out of the ocean floor like what happened during Deepwater Horizon last summer?
Is there a specialty for that?

ANSWER: I'm not sure of your question....  I do believe I understand flow rate.... as to the fluid(s) and conditions associated with the Deepwater Horizon, there are some aspects that I don't deal with regularly...  though, in general the area would be called rheology... (the flow of matter)...

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Do you work in conjunction with rheologists then when working on these kinds of studies for experimental purposes?

Answer
I would, yes.... but generally I am a (computational) aerodynamicist...  so I predominantly work with gases ...
really don't delve much into the more exotic/non-Newtonian fluids...  basically air, water, and maybe some reacting gases

The Deepwater Horizon flow problem involved liquids and gases at extreme pressures not really something I do...  and hence if I were to attempt simulating flows in that regime or conducting some experiments, yes I would likely work with a rheologist due to their specialized expertise (with what I'm calling more exotic fluids)...