Spatially periodic systems with localized asymmetric surface structures (ratchets) can induce directed transport of matter (liquid/particles) in the absence of net force. Here, we show that propulsion for the directed motion of water droplets levitating on heated ratchet surfaces in the Leidenfrost (film boiling) regime is significantly enhanced as the ratchet period decreases down to micro-and sub-micrometers. At the temperature range slightly above the threshold temperature of droplet motion, sub-micron ratchets yield water droplet velocities reaching *40 cm/s, a speed that has never been achieved with any chemical and topological gradient surfaces. This dramatic increase in the droplet velocity is attributed to an enhanced heat transfer through the local contacts between ratchet peaks and bottom of the droplet. A hydrophobic coating on the ratchet surfaces is found to further increase the droplet velocity and decrease the threshold temperature of the droplet motion. The results suggest that miniaturized ratchet surfaces can potentially be used in diverse applications requiring control over fluid transport and heat transfer such as two phase cooling systems for microprocessors and fuel injection for combustion technology and that for those applications the design of ratchet dimensions and surface chemistry are critically important.

Using oil-wet polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) microfluidic porous media analogs, we studied the effect of pore geometry and interfacial tension on water-oil displacement efficiency driven by a constant pressure gradient. This situation is relevant to the drainage of oil from a bypassed oil-wet zone during water flooding in a heterogeneous formation. The porosity and permeability of analogs are 0.19 and 0.133–0.268 × 10−12 m2, respectively; each analog is 30 mm in length and 3 mm in width, with the longer dimension aligned with the flow direction. The pore geometries include three random networks based on Voronoi diagrams and eight periodic networks of triangles, squares, diamonds, and hexagons. We found that among random networks both pore width distribution and vugs (large cavities) decreased the displacement efficiency, among the periodic networks the displacement efficiency decreased with increasing coordination number, and the random network with uniform microfluidic channel width was similar to the hexagon network in the displacement efficiency. When vugs were present, displacement was controlled by the sequence of vug-filling and the structure of inter-vug texture was less relevant. Surfactant (0.5 wt. % ethoxylated alcohol) increased the displacement efficiency in all geometries by increasing the capillary number and suppressing the capillary instability.

The pore sizes of shale and other unconventional plays are of the order of tens of nanometers. Based on the fundamental theory of thermodynamics, several studies have indicated that, in such small pores, phase behavior is affected by the capillary pressure and surface forces and is different from that characterized in PVT cells. No experimental evidence of this phenomenon, however, has been presented in the literature. In this study, we apply nanofluidic devices to visualize phase changes of pure alkane and an alkane mixture under nanoconfinement as a means to approach oil/gas phase behaviors in nanoporous rocks. Pure alkane starts vaporizing in the micro-channels first, and then the meniscus flashes into the nanochannels immediately after the complete vaporization of the liquid in the micro-channels. The vaporization of the ternary hydrocarbon mixture, however, is very different from pure alkane. Although the liquid starts to vaporize in the microchannels first, as expected, the meniscus cannot propagate into the nano-channels in a comparable time scale as the pure alkane. The reason is that the liberation of lighter components from the liquid phase to the gas phase in the micro-channels increases the apparent molecular weight of the liquid in the nano-channels, suppressing the bubble point of the remaining fluid. A modified flash calculation procedure that uses the sizes of micro-channels and nano-channels as the characteristic lengths and assumed contact angle can reproduce the vaporization propagation sequence in the experimental observations. Experiments and modeling presented in this paper provide the proof of the concept and promote the understanding of phase behavior in nanoporous unconventional reservoirs.

Gas in tight sand and shale exists in underground reservoirs with microdarcy (md) or even nanodarcy (nd) permeability ranges; these reservoirs are characterized by small pore throats and cracklike interconnections between pores. The size of the pore throats in shale may differ from the size of the saturating-fluid molecules by only slightly more than one order of magnitude. The physics of fluid flow in these rocks, with measured permeability in the nanodarcy range, is poorly understood. Knowing the fluid-flow behavior in the nanorange channels is of major importance for stimulation design, gas-production optimization, and calculations of the relative permeability of gas in tight shale-gas systems. In this work, a laboratory-on-chip approach for direct visualization of the fluid-flow behavior in nanochannels was developed with an advanced epi-fluorescence microscopy method combined with a nanofluidic chip. Displacements of two-phase flow in 100-nmdepth slit-like channels were reported. Specifically, the two-phase gas-slip effect was investigated. Under experimental conditions, the gas-slippage factor increased as the water saturation increased. The two-phase flow mechanism in 1D nanoscale slit-like channels was proposed and proved by the flow-pattern images. The results are crucial for permeability measurement and understanding fluidflow behavior for unconventional shale-gas systems with nanoscale pores.

Microfluidic and nanofluidic devices have undergone rapid development in recent years. Functions integrated onto such devices provide lab-on-a-chip solutions for many biomedical, chemical, and engineering applications. In this paper, a lab-on-a-chip technique for direct visualization of the single- and two-phase pressure-driven flows in nano-scale channels was developed. The nanofluidic chip was designed and fabricated; concentration dependent fluorescence signal correlation was developed for the determination of flow rate. Experiments of single and two-phase flow in nano-scale channels with 100 nm depth were conducted. The linearity correlation between flow rate and pressure drop in nanochannels was obtained and fit closely into Poiseuille's Law. Meanwhile, three different flow patterns, single, annular, and stratified, were observed from the two-phase flow in the nanochannel experiments and their special features were described. A two-phase flow regime map for nanochannels is presented. Results are of critical importance to both fundamental study and many applications.

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TiNi shape memory alloy thin films were deposited using the pulsed laser deposition under vacuum and in an ambient Ar gas. Our main purpose is to investigate the influences of ambient Ar gas on the composition and the crystallization temperature of TiNi thin films. The deposited films were characterized by energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, a surface profiler, and X-ray diffraction at room temperature. In the case of TiNi thin films deposited in an ambient Ar gas, the compositions of the films were found to be very close to the composition of target when the substrate was placed at the shock front. The in-situ crystallization temperature (ca. 400°C) of the TiNi film prepared at the shock front in an ambient Ar gas was found to be lowered by ca. 100°C in comparison with that of a TiNi film prepared under vacuum.