Peyman Pourafshary received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in Petroleum Engineering in 2007. He is now a Professor in the School of Mining and Geosciences at Nazarbayev University in Kazakhstan. He was Associate Professor at the same school in the period of 2018-2022. Before that, he worked as an Assistant Professor in the Petroleum Engineering departments at Tehran University (Iran) and Sultan Qaboos University (Oman) for more than ten years. Dr. Pourafshary has been involved as the project manager, principal investigator, and consultant in different academic and industrial projects in the US, Iran, Oman, and Kazakhstan in reservoir engineering and production engineering. Most of these projects were related to developing new, cheap, and effective methods to reduce the oil recovery cost and improve oil production. Several research groups were formed, consisting of graduate students and industrial collaborators, under the supervision of Dr. Pourafshary to work on experimental and modeling studies of EOR, production engineering, and stimulation. He has published more than 130 papers in high-ranked Journals and presented about 60 papers at international conferences. He is now the Vice Dean of Research and Academic Affairs of the school, the director of MSc and Ph.D. Programs in Petroleum Engineering at Nazarbayev University, and the Chair of Graduate Programs in the School of Mining and Geosciences.

Recent Journal Publications

• Ahmadi, Y., Mansouri, M., Pourafshary, P, “Application of ZnO–TiO2/zeolite nanocomposites to enhance oil recovery from sandstone formations”, Petroleum Science and Technology, 2023
• Kashiri, R., Garapov, A., Pourafshary, P., “Effect of pH on the Dominant Mechanisms of Oil Recovery by Low Salinity Water in Fractured Carbonates”, Energy and Fuels, 2023
• Lesan, A., Shams, R., Pourafshary, P., Bahrodi, A., “Application of the modified capacitance-resistance method to model reservoir pressure maintenance”, Results in Engineering,
• 2023, 101231
• Khandoozi, S., Pourafshary, P., Aidarova, S., Sharipova, A., “A Comparative Analysis of the Effect of Nanoparticles/Surfactant Assisted Foam Injection on the Gas Mobility Control at Different Heterogeneities”, Fuel, 2023, 128810
• Yerniyazov, D., Yesmukhambet, M., Kenes, R., Bukayev, A., Shakeel, M., Pourafshary, P., Musharova, D., “Polymer Screening for Efficient Water Cut Reduction in a Sandstone Oilfield in Kazakhstan”, Polymers 2023, 15
• Muneer, R., Hashmet, M.R., Pourafshary, P., Shakeel, M. “Unlocking the Power of Artificial Intelligence: Accurate Zeta Potential Prediction Using Machine Learning” Nanomaterials, 2023, 13, 1209
• Karimova, M., Kashiri, R., Pourafshary, P., Hazlett, R. “A Review of Wettability Alteration by Spontaneous Imbibition Using Low-Salinity Water in Naturally Fractured Reservoirs” Energies, 2023, 16, 2373.
• Muneer, R., Pourafshary, P. and Hashmet, M.R., “An Integrated Modeling Approach to Predict Critical Flow rate for Fines Migration Initiation in Sandstone Reservoirs and Water-bearing Formations” Journal of Molecular Liquids, 2023, 376, 121462
• Shakeel, M., Samanova, A., Pourafshary, P. and Hashmet, M.R., “Optimization of Low Salinity Water/Surfactant Flooding Design for Oil-Wet Carbonate Reservoirs by Introducing a Negative Salinity Gradient.” Energies, 2022, 15(24), 9400.
• Ulasbek, K., Hashmet, M.R., Pourafshary, P., Muneer, R., “Laboratory Investigation of Nanofluid-assisted Polymer Flooding in Carbonate Reservoirs”, Nanomaterials, 2022, 12, 23, 4258
  Muneer, R., Pourafshary, P. and Hashmet, M.R., “Application of DLVO Modeling to Predict Critical pH for Fines Migration Pre-and Post-SiO2 and MgO Nanofluid Treatments in Sandstones”. Journal of Fluid Flow, Heat and Mass Transfer, 2022, 9(1), 106..
• Shakeel, M., Pourafshary, P. and Hashmet, M.R., “Experimental Analysis of Initial Wettability Effect on the Performance of Hybrid Engineered Water-Assisted Polymer Flooding”. Journal of Fluid Flow, Heat and Mass Transfer, 2022, 9(1), 113.
• Mehrzad, A., Sedaee, B. and Pourafshary, P., “Effect of produced carbon dioxide on multiphase fluid flow modeling of carbonate acidizing”. Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology, 2022, pp.1-11.
• Aliyev, A., Zivar, D., Pourafshary, P., “Investigation of Replacing Tracer Flooding Analysis by Capacitance Resistance Model to Estimate Interwell Connectivity”, Petroleum, 2022
• Khoramian, R., Kharrat, R., Pourafshary, P., Golshokooh, S., Hashemi, F. “ Spontaneous Imbibition Oil Recovery by Natural Surfactant/Nanofluid: An Experimental and Theoretical Study” Nanomaterials, 2022, 12, 3563.
• Karabayanova, L., Ganiyeva, A., Pourafshary, P. and Hashmet, M.R., “ Application of hybrid Low Salinity Hot Water flooding to enhance oil recovery from heavy oil carbonates” Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2022, 215, 110656
• Mehdizad, A., Sedaee, B., Pourafshary, P., “Visual Investigation of Simultaneous Clay Swelling and Migration Mechanisms Using Micromodels”, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2022. 214, 110561
• Ganiyeva A, Karabayanova L, Pourafshary P, Hashmet M.R., “The Performance of Engineered Water Flooding to Enhance High Viscous Oil Recovery” Applied Sciences, 2022, 12, 8, 3893
• Shakeel, M., Pourafshary, P. and Hashmet, M.R., “Investigation of Brine pH Effect on Rheological and Viscoelastic Properties of HPAM Polymer for an Optimized Enhanced Oil Recovery Design” ACS Omega, 2022, 7(17), 14961-14971
• Abbas, A., Moslemizadeh, A., Sulaiman, W., Jaafar, M., Pourafshary, P., “Lignin adsorption in sandpacks during horizontal flow using UV–Vis spectrometry as a quantification tool” Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 2022, 15, 501
• Muneer, R., Hashmet, M.R., Pourafshary, P., “Predicting the Critical Salt Concentrations of Monovalent and Divalent Brines to Initiate Fines Migration Using DLVO Modeling” Journal of Molecular Liquids, 2022, 352, 118690
• Fani, M., Pourafshary, P., Mostaghimi, P., Mosavat, N., “Application of Microfluidics in Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery: A Review” Fuel, 2022, 315, 123225
• Zivar, D., Ishanov, A., Pourafshary, P., “Insights into Wettability Alteration during Low-Salinity Water Flooding by Capacitance-Resistance Model”, Petroleum Research, 2022
• Muneer, R., Hashmet, M.R., Pourafshary, P., “DLVO Modeling to Predict Critical Salt Concentration to Initiate Fines Migration Pre- and Post-Nanofluid Treatment in Sandstones”, SPE Journal, 2022, 27(4), 1915-1929
• Bopbekov, D., Pourafshary, P., Hazlett, R.,”Accuracy of droplet models for liquid loading prediction: Analysis of production well parameters”, Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 2022, 98, 104391
• Mehdizad, A., Sedaee, B., Pourafshary, P., “Visual investigation of the effect of clay-induced fluid flow diversion on oil recovery, as a low-salinity water flooding mechanism”, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2022, 209, 109959
• Issakhov, M., Shakeel, M., Pourafshary, P., Aidarova, S., Sharipova, A., “Hybrid surfactant-nanoparticles assisted CO2 foam flooding for improved foam stability: A review of principles and applications”, Petroleum Research, 2022, 7(2), 186-203
• Fani, M., Pourafshary, P., “Optimisation of smart water shock flooding in carbonates: effect of soaking time”, International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2021, 28(4), pp.459-478.
• Shakeel, M., Samanova, A., Pourafshary, P. and Hashmet, M.R., “Experimental analysis of oil displacement by hybrid engineered water/chemical EOR approach in carbonates”, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2021, 109297.
• Salimova, R., Pourafshary, P., Wang, L., “Data-Driven Analyses of Low Salinity Waterflooding in Carbonates”. Applied Sciences, 2021, 11(14), 6651
• Shakeel, M., Samanova, A., Pourafshary, P., Hashmet, M.R., “Capillary Desaturation Tendency of Hybrid Engineered Water-Based Chemical Enhanced Oil Recovery Methods”, Energies 2021, 14 (14), 4368
• Abbas, A., Pourafshary, P., Wan Sulaiman, W., and Jaafar, M., “Toward Reducing Surfactant Adsorption on Clay Minerals by Lignin for Enhanced Oil Recovery Application”, ACS Omega, 2021, 6(29), 18651-18662
• Fazelabdolabadi, B., Montazeri, M., and Pourafshary, P., “A Data Mining Perspective on the Confluent Ions Effect for Target Functionality”, High Tech and Innovation Journal, 2021, 2 (3), 202-215
• Salaudeen, I., Hashmet, M.R., and Pourafshary, P., “Catalytic Effects of Temperature and
• Silicon Dioxide Nanoparticles on the Acceleration of Production from Carbonate Rocks”, Nanomaterials, 2021, 11, 7, 1642
• Mahmoudvand, M., Javadi, A. and Pourafshary, P., “Effects of Cation Salinity on the Dynamic Interfacial Tension and Viscoelasticity of Water-Oil Systems”, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2021, 108970
• Moradpour, N., Pourafshary, P., Zivar, D., “Experimental analysis of hybrid low salinity water alternating gas injection and the underlying mechanisms in carbonates”, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2021, 202, 108562
• Mahboubi Fouladi, M., Hassani, K., Rostami, B., Pourafshary, P., “Experimental Studies of Low Salinity Water Flooding in Sandstone Porous Media: Effects of the Presence of Silica and Kaolinite,” Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, 2021, 1-17
• Abbas, A.H., Elhag, H.H., Sulaiman, W.R.W., Gbadamosi, A., Pourafshary, P., “Modelling of continuous surfactant flooding application for marginal oilfields: a case study of Bentiu reservoir”. Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology, 2021, 11, 989–1006
• Zivar, D., Pourafshary, P., Moradpour, N., “Capillary Desaturation Curve: Does Low Salinity Surfactant Flooding Significantly Reduce the Residual Oil Saturation?” Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology, 2021, 11, 783–794
• Mahmoudpour, M., Pourafshary, P., “Investigation of the Effect of Engineered Water/Nanofluid Hybrid Injection on Enhanced Oil Recovery Mechanisms in Carbonate Reservoirs”, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2021, 196, 107662
• Soroush, M., Roostaei, M., Hosseini, S.A., Pourafshary, P., Mahmoudi, M., Ghalambor, A. and Fattahpour, V., “Challenges and Potentials for Sand and Flow Control and Management in the Sandstone Oil Fields of Kazakhstan:A Literature Review" SPE Drilling & Completion, 2021, 36(01), 208-231
• Sedaghatzadeh, M., Shahbazi, K., Pourafshary, P. and Razavi, S.A., “Experimental investigation of the application of Eucalyptus bark to prevent lost circulation in pay zones with acid dissolution capability”. Petroleum, 2021, 7, 2, 152-159
• Muneer, R., Hashmet, M.R., Pourafshary, P., “Fine Migration Control in Sandstones: Surface Force Analysis and Application of DLVO Theory” ACS Omega, 2020, 5, 49, 31624–31639
• Mosavat, N., Al-Riyami, S., Pourafshary, P., Al-Wahaibi, Y. and Rudyk, S., 2020. “Recovery of viscous and heavy oil by CO2-saturated brine” Energy and Climate Change, 2020, 1, 100009.
• Sekerbayeva, A., Pourafshary, P. and Hashmet, M.R., “Application of anionic Surfactant\Engineered water hybrid EOR in carbonate formations: An experimental analysis”, Petroleum, 2022, 8(4), 466-475
• Bazhanova, M., Pourafshary, P., “Impact of SO42-, Ca2+, and Mg2+ Ions in Caspian Sea Ion-engineered Water on the Rate of Wettability Alteration in Carbonates”, Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology, 2020, 10(8), 3281-3293
• Shakeel, M.; Pourafshary, P.; Rehan Hashmet, M., “Hybrid Engineered Water–Polymer Flooding in Carbonates: A Review of Mechanisms and Case Studies”, Applied Sciences, 2020, 10, 6087
• Moradpour, N., Karimova, M., Pourafshary, P., and Zivar, D., “Effects of Slug Size, Soaking, and Injection Schemes on the Performance of Controlled Ions Water Flooding in Carbonates” ACS Omega, 2020, 5(29), 18155-18167
• Mohammadi, S., Sedaghatzadeh, M. & Pourafshary, P., “Solid-geo-mechanical investigation of the effect of salt creep on casing stability using finite element method: a case study”. SN Applied Sciences, 2020, 2, 7, 1-9
• Sedaghatzadeh, M., Shahbazi, K., Pourafshary, P. And Razavi, S.A., “The Effect of Cations on Gelation of Cross-Linked Polymers”. Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2019, 46(4), 826-832.
• Mahmoudvand, M., Javadi, A. and Pourafshary, P., “Brine Ions Impacts on Water-Oil Dynamic Interfacial Properties Considering Asphaltene and Maltene Constituents”. Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects, 2019, 123665.
• Zivar, D., Foroozesh, J., Pourafshary, P. and Salmanpour, S., “Stress Dependency of Permeability, Porosity and Flow Channels in Anhydrite and Carbonate Rocks”. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, 2019, 102949.
• Salimi, Y., Moradzadeh, A., Kazemzadeh, E., Pourafshary, P. and Majdi, A. “Experimental investigation of changes in petrophysical properties and structural deformation of carbonate reservoirs”. Petroleum Exploration and Development, 2019, 46(3), 565-575.
• Pourafshary, P and Al-Farsi, H., “Enhancement of Heavy Oil Recovery by Nanoparticle/Microwave Application”, Eurasian Chemico-Technological Journal, 2019, 21, 1, 51-56
• Salimi, Y., Moradzadeh, A., Pourafshary, P., Majidi, A., “Effect of Hysteresis on Petrophysical Properties of Limestone Hydrocarbon Reservoir Rock” Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2019, 177, 745-755
• Jalilian, m., Tabzar, A., Ghasemi, V., Pourafshary, P., Zendehboudi, S., “An Experimental Investigation of Nanoemulsion Enhanced Oil Recovery: Use of Unconsolidated Packed Beds”, Fuel, 2019, 251, 1, 754-762
• Zivar, D., Pourafshary, P., “A new approach for predicting oil recovery factor during immiscible CO2 flooding in sandstones using dimensionless numbers”, Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production Technology, 2019, 2, 1-8
• Mosavat, N., Hasanidarabadi, B., Pourafshary, P., “Gaseous Slip Flow Simulation in a Micro/Nano Pore-Throat Structure using the Lattice Boltzmann Model”, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2019, 177, 93-103
• Fouladi, M. M., Rostami, B., and Pourafshary, P., ”Effects of the Presence of Fines on the Performance of Low Salinity Waterflooding”, Special Topics & Reviews in Porous Media, 2019, 10(2), 155-169
• Sharifipour, M., Pourafshary, P., Nakhaee, A., “Model Development of Permeability Impairment due to Clay Swelling in Porous Media using Micromodels”, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2019, 175, 728-742
• Mansouri, M., and Pourafshary, P., “Effect of SiO2 nanoparticles on Fines Stabilization during Low Salinity Water Flooding”, Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 2019, 174, 637-648
• Al Abri, H., Pourafshary, P., Mosavat, N., Al Hadrami, H,” A Study of the Performance of the LSWA CO2 EOR Technique on Improvement of Oil Recovery in Sandstones” Petroleum, 2019, 5, 58-66

Recent Conference Publications

• Abbas, A., Keldibayev, N., Pourafshary, P.,” Numerical Simulation of Flaxseed Gum Potential in Improving Oil Recovery: Focus on Offshore Kazakhstan”, will be presented at 2024 Offshore Technology Conference Asia, 27 February- 1 March, Malaysia
• Serikov, G., Hashim, A., Pourafshary, P, Zhuniskenov Y.,”Vitality of Safe Flooding in Offshore Operations: The Road to Caspian Sea Implementation of Natural Polymers”, will be presented at 2024 Offshore Technology Conference Asia, 27 February- 1 March, Malaysia
• Muneer, R., Pourafshary, P. and Hashmet, M.R., “Fines Migration Control In Sandstone Reservoirs: Dlvo Modeling For Critical Salt Concentration And Critical Flow Rate Prediction" will be presented at 2024 SPE International Conference and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control, 21-23 February, 2024, in Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
• Shakeel, M., Pourafshary, P. and Hashmet, M.R., “Effect of Initial Wettability on Capillary Desaturation by Hybrid Engineered Water/Polymer Flooding in Carbonate Reservoirs”. 2022, In Proceedings of the 8th World Congress on Mechanical, Chemical, and Material Engineering, Prague, Czech Republic (Vol. 31).
• Muneer, R., Hashmet, M.R. and Pourafshary, P., “Prediction of Critical pH for Fines Migration Pre-and Post-Nanofluid Treatment in Sandstone Reservoirs using the DLVO Modelling.” 2022, In Proceedings of the 8th World Congress on Mechanical, Chemical, and Material Engineering, Prague, Czech Republic (Vol. 31)
• Satay, Y., Hashmet, M.R. and Pourafshary, P., “Laboratory Investigation of Hybrid Nanoparticles Injection for Enhanced Oil Recovery Process”, 2022, In Proceedings of the 8th World Congress on Mechanical, Chemical, and Material Engineering, Prague, Czech Republic (Vol. 31)
• Zhangaliyev, M., Hashmet, M., Pourafshary, P. “Laboratory Investigation of Hybrid Nano-assisted-polymer Method for EOR Applications in Carbonate Reservoirs" OTC Paper 31398 presented at the Offshore Technology Conference Asia, 2022, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Mahmoudpour, M., Pourafshary, P., Moradi. B., Rasaei, M.R., “Reduction of Residual Oil in Oil-wet Carbonate Formations by Application of Hybrid Smart Water/silica Nanofluid Enhanced Oil Recovery Method" OTC Paper 31488 presented at the Offshore Technology Conference Asia, 2022, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Karimova, M., Pourafshary, P., Fani, M.” Shock/soaking Injection Scheme To Improve Oil Recovery In Carbonate Formations By Low Salinity Water Flooding” SPE paper 200226 presented in The SPE Conference at Oman Petroleum & Energy Show, 2022, Muscat, Oman
• Muneer, R., Hashmet, M., Pourafshary, P. “Application of DLVO Modeling to Study the Effect of Silica Nanofluid to Reduce Critical Salt Concentration in Sandstones” IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, World Symposium on Smart Materials and Applications (WSSMA 2021), 16th-18th July 2021, Bangkok, Thailand, 1186, 012001
• Salaudeen, I., Hashmet, M.R., Pourafshary, P., “Synergistic Effects of Engineered
• Water Nanoparticles on Oil Recovery in Carbonate Reservoirs" SPE paper 205150 presented at the 82nd EAGE Conference and Exhibition, October 2021, Amsterdam, Netherland
• Karimov, D., Hashmet, M., Pourafshary, P. “A Laboratory Study to Optimize Ion Composition for the Hybrid Low Salinity Water/Polymer Flooding.” SPE paper 30136 presented at SPE Offshore Technology Conference, 2-6 November 2020, Malaysia
• Zamani, M., Pourafshary, P., Hashmet, M. “A Transient Model for Prediction of Asphaltene Deposition Along Tubing String: Enhanced Petroleum Production Implications.” SPE paper 30095 presented at SPE Offshore Technology Conference, 2-6 November 2020, Malaysia
• Soroush, M., Hosseini, S.A., Roostaei, M., Pourafshary, P., Mahmoudi, M., Ghalambor, A. and Fattahpour, V., “Challenges and Potentials for Sand Control Design and Management in Oil Reservoirs of Kazakhstan” SPE paper 199247 presented at SPE International Conference and Exhibition on Formation Damage Control, 19-21 February, 2020, Louisiana, USA
• Pourafshary, P., Al Khanbashi, I., Mosavat, N., “ Effect of Water/CO2 Ratio on Performance of CO-Based EOR in a Sandstone Reservoir – Insights from Core Flood Tests and Simulations” SPE Paper 198624 presented at SPE Gas & Oil Technology Showcase and Conference, 21-23 October, 2019, Dubai, UAE