No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

A lightweight and strong porous cellulose material has been prepared by drying aqueous foams stabilized with surface-modified nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC). This material differs from other dry, particle stabilized foams in that renewable cellulose is used as stabilizing particles. Confocal microscopy and high speed video imaging show that the octylamine-coated, rod-shaped NFC nanoparticles residing at the air-liquid interface prevent the air bubbles from collapsing or coalescing. Stable wet foams can be achieved at solids content around 1% by weight. Careful removal of the water results in a cellulose-based material with a porosity of 98% and a density of 30 mg cm(-3). These porous cellulose materials have a higher Young's modulus than porous cellulose materials made from freeze-drying, at comparable densities, and have a compressive energy absorption of 56 kJ m(-3) at 80% strain. Measurement with the aid of an autoporosimeter revealed that most pores are in the range of 300 to 500 μm.

a b s t r a c tWe investigate trapping of a nonwetting (NW) phase, air, within Bentheimer sandstone cores during drainage-imbibition flow experiments, as quantified on a three dimensional (3D) pore-scale basis via x-ray computed microtomography (X-ray CMT). The wetting (W) fluid in these experiments was deionized water doped with potassium iodide (1:6 by weight). We interpret these experiments based on the capillary-viscosity-gravity force dominance exhibited by the Bentheimer-air-brine system and compare to a wide range of previous drainage-imbibition experiments in different media and with different fluids. From this analysis, we conclude that viscous and capillary forces dominate in the Bentheimer-air-brine system as well as in the Bentheimer-supercritical CO 2 -brine system. In addition, we further develop the relationship between initial (post-drainage) NW phase connectivity and residual (post-imbibition) trapped NW phase saturation, while also taking into account initial NW phase saturation and imbibition capillary number. We quantify NW phase connectivity via a topological measure as well as by a statistical percolation metric. These metrics are evaluated for their utility and appropriateness in quantifying NW phase connectivity within porous media. Here, we find that there is a linear relationship between initial NW phase connectivity (as quantified by the normalized Euler number,v) and capillary trapping efficiency; for a given imbibition capillary number, capillary trapping efficiency (residual NW phase saturation normalized by initial NW phase saturation) can decrease by up to 60% as initial NW phase connectivity increases from low connectivity (v % 0) to very high connectivity (v % 1). We propose that multiphase fluid-porous medium systems can be efficiently engineered to achieve a desired residual state (optimal NW phase saturation) by considering the dominant forces at play in the system along with the impacts of NW phase topology within the porous media, and we illustrate these concepts by considering supercritical CO 2 sequestration scenarios.

We utilize synchrotron X‐ray tomographic imaging to investigate the pore‐scale characteristics and residual trapping of supercritical CO2 (scCO2) over the course of multiple drainage‐imbibition (D‐I) cycles in Bentheimer sandstone cores. Capillary pressure measurements are paired with X‐ray image‐derived saturation and connectivity metrics which describe the extent of drainage and subsequent residual (end of imbibition) scCO2 trapping. For the first D‐I cycle, residual scCO2 trapping is suppressed due to high imbibition capillary number (Ca ≈ 10−6); however, residual scCO2 trapping dramatically increases for subsequent D‐I cycles carried out at the same Ca value. This behavior is not predicted by conventional multiphase trapping theory. The magnitude of scCO2 trapping increase is hysteretic and depends on the relative extent of the sequential drainage processes. The hysteretic pore‐scale behavior of the scCO2‐brine‐sandstone system observed in this study suggests that cyclic multiphase flow could potentially be used to increase scCO2 trapping for sequestration applications.

We investigate capillary trapping and fluid migration via x-ray computed microtomography (xray CMT) of nonwetting phase (air) and wetting phase (brine) in Bentheimer sandstone cores which have been treated to exhibit different degrees of uniform wettability. X-ray CMT scans were acquired at multiple steps during drainage and imbibition processes, as well as at the endpoints; allowing for assessment of the impact of wettability on nonwetting phase saturation and cluster size distribution, connectivity, topology and efficiency of trapping. Compared with untreated (water-wet) Bentheimer sandstone, cores treated with tetramethoxylsilane (TMS) were rendered weakly water-wet, and cores treated with octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) demonstrate intermediate-wet characteristics. As apparent contact angle increases, drainage flow patterns deviate from those derived for water-wet systems, total residual trapping and trapping efficiency decrease, and buoyancy plays a larger role during nonwetting phase mobilization; this has significant implications for CO 2 migration and trapping during CO 2 sequestration operations.

No abstract