Functionalization of micromodels with kaolinite for investigation of low salinity oil-recovery processes

Song, Wen; Kovscek, Anthony R.

doi:10.1039/c5lc00544b

Cited by 146 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Furthermore, both surface tension and contact angle vary as the system changes from static to dynamic conditions (static interfacial tension [ Young , ; Good , ; Vargaftik et al ., ], dynamic interfacial tension [ Caskey and Barlage , ; Bechtel et al ., ], and static versus dynamic wettability [ Wenzel , ; Cassie and Baxter , ; Rose and Heins , ; Hoffman , ; De Gennes , ]). In noncylindrical tubes, capillary pressure and fluid invasion reflect the irregular cross section of pores as well as their converging‐diverging longitudinal geometry [ Ransohoff and Radke , ; Mason and Morrow , ; Dong and Chatzis , ; Weislogel and Lichter , ; Bico and Quere , ; Song and Kovscek , ; Zhao et al ., ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Capillary pressure across a pore throat in the presence of surfactants

Jang

Sun

Santamarina

2016

Water Resources Research

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Capillarity controls the distribution and transport of multiphase and immiscible fluids in soils and fractured rocks; therefore, capillarity affects the migration of nonaqueous contaminants and remediation strategies for both LNAPLs and DNAPLs, constrains gas and oil recovery, and regulates CO 2 injection and geological storage. Surfactants alter interfacial tension and modify the invasion of pores by immiscible fluids. Experiments are conducted to explore the propagation of fluid interfaces along cylindrical capillary tubes and across pore constrictions in the presence of surfactants. Measured pressure signatures reflect the interaction between surface tension, contact angle, and the pore geometry. Various instabilities occur as the interface traverses the pore constriction, consequently, measured pressure signatures differ from theoretical trends predicted from geometry, lower capillary pressures are generated in advancing wetting fronts, and jumps are prone to under-sampling. Contact angle and instabilities are responsible for pronounced differences between pressure signatures recorded during advancing and receding tests. Pressure signatures gathered with surfactant solutions suggest changes in interfacial tension at the constriction; the transient surface tension is significantly lower than the value measured in quasi-static conditions. Interface stiffening is observed during receding fronts for solutions near the critical micelle concentration. Wetting liquids tend to form plugs at pore constrictions after the invasion of a nonwetting fluid; plugs split the nonwetting fluid into isolated globules and add resistance against fluid flow.The capillary pressure P c [Pa] in a cylindrical pore of radius r [m] depends on the contact angle u and the interfacial tension T lg [N/m] between the two fluids as predicted by Young-Laplace's equation P c 5 2T lg ÁcosuÁr 21 , where cosu 5 (T ls

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Capillary pressure across a pore throat in the presence of surfactants

Jang

Sun

Santamarina

2016

Water Resources Research

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“…Much less emphasis has been given to the fluids' affinity to the porous media (i.e., wettability), even though wettability has a profound influence on fluid-fluid interactions in the presence of a solid surface (5)(6)(7). Despite recent advances in our ability to accurately measure wettability under reservoir conditions (8,9), and to engineer wettability in the subsurface (10)(11)(12)(13), the complex physics of wetting continues to challenge our microscopic and macroscopic descriptions (14).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Wettability control on multiphase flow in patterned microfluidics

Zhao

MacMinn

Juanes

2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

475

480

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Multiphase flow in porous media is important in many natural and industrial processes, including geologic CO 2 sequestration, enhanced oil recovery, and water infiltration into soil. Although it is well known that the wetting properties of porous media can vary drastically depending on the type of media and pore fluids, the effect of wettability on multiphase flow continues to challenge our microscopic and macroscopic descriptions. Here, we study the impact of wettability on viscously unfavorable fluid-fluid displacement in disordered media by means of high-resolution imaging in microfluidic flow cells patterned with vertical posts. By systematically varying the wettability of the flow cell over a wide range of contact angles, we find that increasing the substrate's affinity to the invading fluid results in more efficient displacement of the defending fluid up to a critical wetting transition, beyond which the trend is reversed. We identify the pore-scale mechanisms-cooperative pore filling (increasing displacement efficiency) and corner flow (decreasing displacement efficiency)-responsible for this macroscale behavior, and show that they rely on the inherent 3D nature of interfacial flows, even in quasi-2D media. Our results demonstrate the powerful control of wettability on multiphase flow in porous media, and show that the markedly different invasion protocols that emerge-from pore filling to postbridging-are determined by physical mechanisms that are missing from current pore-scale and continuum-scale descriptions.porous media | capillarity | wettability | microfluidics | pattern formation M ultiphase flow in porous media is important in many natural and industrial processes, including geologic CO 2 sequestration (1), enhanced oil recovery (2), water infiltration into soil (3), and transport in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (4). Much of the research on multiphase flow in porous media has focused on the effect of fluid properties and flow conditions. Much less emphasis has been given to the fluids' affinity to the porous media (i.e., wettability), even though wettability has a profound influence on fluid-fluid interactions in the presence of a solid surface (5-7). Despite recent advances in our ability to accurately measure wettability under reservoir conditions (8, 9), and to engineer wettability in the subsurface (10-13), the complex physics of wetting continues to challenge our microscopic and macroscopic descriptions (14).Fluid-fluid displacement in the presence of a solid surface can be characterized as either drainage or imbibition, depending on the system's wettability. Drainage refers to the regime where the invading fluid is less wetting to the solid surface than the defending fluid. Imbibition refers to the opposite case, where the invading fluid is more wetting to the solid surface than the defending fluid. Drainage in porous media has been studied extensively through laboratory experiments and computer simulations (15-18), and we now have a fairly good understanding of the different displacement ...

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“…Slurries were sonicated to minimize particle aggregation prior to injection into the micromodel with a syringe (Song and Kovscek, 2015).…”

Section: Experimental Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in mineral reactivity driven by pore fluid mobility in partially wetted porous media

et al. 2017

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Highlights Gas-water-mineral interface highly dynamic during evaporation in model porous media  Pore-scale distribution of gas-water mineral interfaces dictates rate and extent of reaction  Entrainment of reacting mineral particles by the mobile water-gas interface may dramatically alter reactivity  Particle entrainment process may stimulate mineral precipitation in previously unreactive pores ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT AbstractMicrofluidics experiments were used to examine mineral dissolution-precipitation reactions under evaporative conditions and identify pore-scale processes that control reaction rate. The entrainment of reacting mineral particles by a mobile water-gas interface driven by evaporation dramatically altered the relative abundance of reactive mineral surface area to fluid reservoir volume. This ratio, which directly influences reaction rate and reaction progress, was observed to vary by nearly two orders of magnitude as evaporation progressed in the experiments. Its dynamic evolution may have a correspondingly large impact on mineral-fluid reaction in Earth's shallow subsurface.We predict that the spatial and temporal variability of pore-scale reaction rates will be significant during evaporation, imbibition, or drainage in the vadose zone, with implications for chemical weathering, soil quality, and carbon cycling. Variable reaction rates during particle mobility are likely to be of increased significance as global rainfall patterns and soil moisture contents evolve in response to climate change.

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Functionalization of micromodels with kaolinite for investigation of low salinity oil-recovery processes

Cited by 146 publications

References 36 publications

Capillary pressure across a pore throat in the presence of surfactants

Capillary pressure across a pore throat in the presence of surfactants

Wettability control on multiphase flow in patterned microfluidics

Changes in mineral reactivity driven by pore fluid mobility in partially wetted porous media

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