Zhidi Wu

Zhidi Wu

Project Engineer at Agapito Associates, LLC

Research

My work spans four areas of subsurface energy science and engineering, unified by one toolkit: coupled hydro-chemo-mechanical (HCM) analysis, high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) experiments, and Bayesian uncertainty quantification.

1. Carbon Storage & CO₂-EOR

2016 – 2024 · New Mexico Tech / University of Utah

How CO₂-rich fluids chemically and mechanically alter sandstone reservoirs used for carbon storage and enhanced oil recovery. HPHT flow-through experiments on Farnsworth Unit core showed that cement mineralogy and texture, not just porosity, control whether a reservoir stays mechanically robust after decades of injection.

4 publications · 19+ independent citing papers · Funded by DOE NETL (Southwest Partnership)

Selected publications

  • Wu et al. (2020), JGR: Solid Earth: chemo-mechanical alteration in carbonate-cemented sandstone
  • Jia, Xiao, Wu et al. (2021), Energies: mineral reactive surface area forecasting
  • Wu et al. (2023), Energies: cement timing, mineralogy, and texture synthesis

2. Bayesian Uncertainty Quantification of Geomechanical Properties

2019 – 2024 · University of Utah

A Bayesian framework and nanoindentation-based method that let engineers put honest confidence bounds on rock mechanical properties from limited, low-cost samples, instead of treating small datasets as if they carried the certainty of exhaustive testing. This is the measurement-science backbone the other three projects build on.

4 publications · 8+ independent citing papers · Funded by DOE NETL (Southwest Partnership / Unconventional Oil Play in Paradox Basin)

Selected publications

  • Wu et al. (2025), Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering: nanoindentation vs. triaxial uncertainty
  • Wu et al. (2024), Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering: Bayesian assessment framework

3. Engineered Acceleration of Geologic Hydrogen Generation & Storage

2024 – 2026 · Los Alamos National Laboratory

Batch-reactor experiments on serpentinization, the reaction of iron-naturally generates hydrogen, to identify which conditions can be engineered to accelerate production by thousand orders of magnitude, translated into a design roadmap for field-scale stimulated hydrogen sites.

4 publications · 4+ independent citing papers · Funded by DOE / ARPA-E

Selected publications

  • Wu et al. (2026), Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering: experimentimulated serpentinization
  • Purswani et al., incl. Wu (2026), Fuel: integrated risk assessment of underground H₂ storage

4. Engineering Solution Mining & Salt Cavern Storage

Current · Agapito Associates, LLC

Numerical geomechanical modeling (FLAC, SafeInCave) of solution-mined salt caverns used for critical-mineral production (potash, boron) and energy storage (LNG, propane, hydrogen), designing cavern depth, geometry, and operating-pressure envelopes that keep these facilities stable across decades of leaching and pressure cycling.

1 published + 1 in review

Selected publications