"Uniting Subsurface GeoEnergy Systems, Industrial OT Cybersecurity, and Transatlantic Clean Energy Diplomacy across Heriot-Watt Dubai & Edinburgh."
Atmospheric Scientist • U.S. Department of Defense Project GO Arabic Scholar (Morocco) • Air Force ROTC Alumnus • Energy, EngD Candidate (App ID: 9535a9e2)
Doctor of Engineering in Energy (Energy, EngD) | January 2027 Intake
Host Department: Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering (IGE) & School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences (MACS)
Heriot-Watt University: Dubai Campus (Regional Telemetry & OT Operations) & Edinburgh Campus (HPHT Laboratory Validation)
Applicant: Andrew C. Kieckhefer (andy.kieckhefer@gmail.com)
Application ID: 9535a9e2-53ab-f111-8a75-06f0a7fb396f
This research dossier operates two live local web portals running with active SCADA telemetry and Open Research Requisitions ("Help Wanted"):
| Domain Portal | Local Host Address | Scope & Requisitions ("Help Wanted") | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🛢️ website.oil:8000 | http://localhost:8000 |
Subsurface Barrier & Mechanical Integrity • Casing Pressure ( • OIL-01: OT Threat & SCADA Telemetry Lead • OIL-02: Wellbore Geomechanics & Casing Specialist • OIL-03: Satellite Methane Remote Sensing Analyst |
🟢 ONLINE |
| 💧 website.h2o:8001 | http://localhost:8001 |
Hydrothermal Brine & Smart Water Circuit • • H2O-01: DLE Chemical Process Engineer • H2O-02: Smart Water SCADA & Reinjection Lead • H2O-03: Geothermal Binary ORC Engineer |
🟢 ONLINE |
Run / Restart Locally:
python serve_domains.pyThis repository houses the living, version-controlled doctoral research framework for converting mature petroleum wellbores into co-production systems for battery-grade lithium (Direct Lithium Extraction - DLE) and low-enthalpy geothermal energy, safeguarded by a continuous 360-degree operational technology (OT) cyber-physical risk engine.
Every working paper, operational telemetry rule, and cyber-physical architecture developed in this repository is designed to solve a specific engineering bottleneck governed by four foundational legal authorities:
| Level | Legal Authority | What It Decides | Research & Engineering Mandate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Federal Tax | 26 U.S.C. § 45X / IRS Treas. Reg. § 1.45X | Will the facility receive a 10% federal production subsidy? | Continuous empirical telemetry verifying battery-grade lithium ( |
| Federal Environmental | 40 CFR Part 98 Subpart W / SDWA | What emissions and injection standards must the facility empirically prove? | Multi-scale spaceborne (TROPOMI) to downhole (DAS) zero-emissions verification. |
| State Subsurface | AOGC Ark. Code § 15-76 / Texas RRC Rule 9 | Can you legally convert the steel wellbore and extract the brine? | Casing annular pressure balancing, P&A liability elimination, and royalty compliance. |
| Cyber-Physical | NIST SP 800-82 Rev. 3 / CISA Directives | Is the wellhead SCADA telemetry legally defensible against intrusion? | Physics-informed Modbus/DNP3 anomaly detection and dynamic edge failover. |
"Every working paper we draft—from hydrodynamic column elution to physics-informed SCADA telemetry—is designed to solve a specific engineering bottleneck created by these four legal authorities."
graph TD
subgraph ORBITAL [🛰️ Spaceborne Observation: NASA HAQAST / TROPOMI]
Sat["Orbital Spectrometers (Sentinel-5P / TEMPO)"] --> Plume["Atmospheric Trace Gas Column (CH4 & NO2)"]
end
subgraph OIL_DOMAIN [🛢️ .oil Domain: Wellhead Barrier & Mechanical Integrity]
Well["Mature Wellbore (10,450 ft MD)"] --> Annular["Annular Casing Pressure Telemetry"]
Well --> DAS["Distributed Acoustic Sensing Fiber (SPE-21820)"]
Annular --> OilTwin["telemetry.wellhead.smackover.oil"]
DAS --> OilTwin
end
subgraph H2O_DOMAIN [💧 .h2o Domain: Hydrothermal Brine & Smart Water Circuit]
Brine["14,200 bpd Formation Water (USGS 2024)"] --> DLE["Direct Lithium Extraction Sorption Columns"]
Brine --> ORC["Binary Geothermal ORC Heat Exchanger"]
DLE --> H2OTwin["telemetry.smartwater.arkansas.h2o"]
ORC --> H2OTwin
end
subgraph CONVERGENCE [🔒 360° Cyber-Physical Risk Engine & Smart Grid]
OilTwin --> Engine["NIST SP 800-82 Rev. 3 SCADA Audit"]
H2OTwin --> Engine
Plume <-->|"Ground-Truth Verification"| Engine
Engine --> Grid["Dr. Christos Chrysoulas's Framework (Smart Grids / Water)"]
Engine --> Subsurface["Heriot-Watt IGE HPHT Core Flood Labs"]
end
style ORBITAL fill:#0f172a,stroke:#38bdf8,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
style OIL_DOMAIN fill:#1e293b,stroke:#f59e0b,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
style H2O_DOMAIN fill:#0c4a6e,stroke:#0284c7,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
style CONVERGENCE fill:#022c22,stroke:#10b981,stroke-width:2px,color:#fff
- Core Domains: Smart Grids, Smart Water Management Systems, Internet of Things (IoT), and Cyber-Physical Systems.
- Research Intersection: Repurposing wellhead infrastructure requires real-time closed-loop control of pressurized brine flow and grid synchronization. This project integrates Dr. Chrysoulas's research on smart grid data architectures and explainable AI for IoT attack detection into upstream energy operations (NIST SP 800-82 Rev. 3 & CISA ICS directives).
- Lineage Anchor: Department of Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences (AOS) and the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
- Methodological Bridge: Coupling sub-surface fluid kinetics with orbital remote sensing. Incorporating spaceborne telemetry from TROPOMI (TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument) and TEMPO (developed under the NASA Health and Air Quality Applied Sciences Team - HAQAST led by Dr. Tracey Holloway) to independently verify the environmental zero-emissions integrity of repurposed geothermal wellbore networks.
This repository includes an operational, test-validated Python AI agent (agent/) that ingests wellhead SCADA streams, audits physical and cyber-physical thresholds, and synthesizes executive diagnostic briefs:
- Multi-LLM Reasoning Engine: Supports Claude (via Anthropic API), Google Gemini (via
google-genai), or an Autonomous Offline Deterministic Mode (zero API key required). - One-Click Local Execution:
python run_agent.py
- Sample Telemetry: Evaluates real-world reservoir and surface parameters from Smackover Formation DLE pilots (
data/sample_wellhead_stream.json). - Latest Diagnostic Brief: Generated output archived at
radar/latest_telemetry_diagnostic.md.
Grounded in our Statement of Purpose and Extended Proposal, this research formalizes two distinct digital twin namespaces:
- 🛢️
.oilDomain (wellbore.smackover.oil): Subsurface wellbore mechanical barrier integrity, annular casing pressures, cement acoustic impedance, and P&A liability mitigation. - 💧
.h2oDomain (telemetry.smartwater.arkansas.h2o): Hydrothermal brine throughput, DLE sorption column kinetics, geothermal heat exchange, and reinjection hydraulic balancing under Dr. Chrysoulas's Smart Water paradigm. - 📄 Full Architecture Specification:
docs/domain_architecture_oil_and_h2o.md
A scheduled CI/CD agent (.github/workflows/junior_researcher.yml) autonomously tracks international energy law, federal incentives, and operational technology threat vectors:
- Weekly Schedule: Runs every Monday at 06:00 UTC (or on-demand via
workflow_dispatch). - Live Feed: Results are synthesized autonomously into markdown briefs inside
radar/:
| Document / Module | Description | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Statement of Purpose | Concise narrative bridging AFROTC leadership, UW–Madison AOS, and doctoral candidacy | proposal/statement_of_purpose.md |
| Supporting Document 1 | Extended scientific methodology, 3.5-year Gantt milestone schedule, and Heriot-Watt lab allocations | docs/Supporting_Doc_1_Extended_Proposal_and_Timeline.md |
| Supporting Document 2 | Academic CV, formal Letter of Intent, UW–Madison transcript audit, and UK/UAE compliance audit | docs/Supporting_Doc_2_Academic_Dossier_and_Compliance_Audit.md |
| Dual-Domain Specification | Grounding the .oil and .h2o digital twin TLD architecture in established research |
docs/domain_architecture_oil_and_h2o.md |
| Entity & Ecosystem Architecture | 4-Pillar governance linking LLC incubation, Heriot-Watt doctoral host, UW–Madison AOS, and advocacy | docs/commercial_and_entity_architecture.md |
| Annotated Bibliography | 8-part foundational literature review (USGS 2024, DOE, Kumar DLE, NIST SP 800-82r3, SPE-21820) | references/annotated_bibliography.md |
| BibTeX Citations | Standardized LaTeX / Zotero citation library | references/references.bib |
| Post-Doctoral Target Lines | Modular career launchpad & bridge dossiers (The Holloway Group, Heriot-Watt, NOAA, Shell) | career/README.md |
| Career Opportunity Index | Comparative matrix of target roles, funding vehicles, and leverage points across all folders | career/index.md |
| The Research Workbench | "The Tools to Make the Engine": digital twin testbeds, SCADA evaluators, and radar | tools/README.md |
| Social Impact & Advocacy | Transatlantic MENA energy diplomacy, de-stigmatization, and Caregivers in Science | advocacy/README.md |
| Funding & Financial Engines | Strategic resourcing portfolio (James Watt Scholarship, UKRI, UAE Consortia, NSF, Caregivers to PhD) | funding/README.md |
| Research Forecast & Roadmap | 3.5-Year operational chronicle, 4 W's matrix (Who, Where, When, What), and story narrative | forecast/README.md |
| Publications & Google Scholar | Working paper series, preprint archive, automated PDF compiler, and Google Scholar profile | publications/README.md |
| The Legal Compass | Codified statutory & regulatory source of truth (IRC § 45X, SDWA Class II/V, AOGC, NIST SP 800-82) | legal/README.md |
| The Doctoral Frame Engine | Reverse-engineered 7-component dissertation library & live telemetry bus (2027–2030) | final/components/README.md |
| Telemetry Diagnostic Brief | Real-time diagnostic briefing produced by the autonomous Python agent | radar/latest_telemetry_diagnostic.md |
- Research Text, Proposals, and Academic Documentation: Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0).
- Automation Software, Scraping Pipelines, and Code: Licensed under the MIT License.
- Copyright: © 2026 Andrew C. Kieckhefer. All rights reserved.