Strong influence of geometrical heterogeneity on drainage in porous media

Romano, M.; Chabert, Max; Cuenca, Amandine; Bodiguel, Hugues

doi:10.1103/physreve.84.065302

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…In classical flow conditions where wetting and non-wetting phases are connected, numerous experimental and numerical studies have been performed in order to define relative permeabilities for drainage or imbibition conditions (Joekar-Niasar and Hassanizadeh 2012;Nguyen et al 2006;Romano et al 2011). However, in contrast to the classical flow conditions, only little work (Shen et al 2010) has been done on relative permeabilities in the case of a disconnected non-wetting phase.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…They measured a dependence of the ganglia size distribution with the trapping number. Romano et al (2011) measured CDC in a heterogeneous glass micromodel with two channel sizes and showed that the critical trapping number scales with the size of the larger channel. CDC in sintered glass porous media has also been investigated by Armstrong et al (2014) in order to discuss the capillary number at which oil mobilization occurs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Multi-Scale Investigation of Pore Structure Impact on the Mobilization of Trapped Oil by Surfactant Injection

et al. 2015

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The evolution of the residual oil saturation as a function of the trapping number N t (capillary number plus Bond number), is generally known as the capillary desaturation curve (CDC) and constitutes an important input parameter in chemical enhanced oil recovery flooding. However, less importance has been paid to the investigation of the influence of oil ganglia evacuation on relative permeabilities. We report on an experimental investigation dealing with the effect of flooding parameters, fluid interfacial properties and rock structure on the CDC and on the water relative permeability. Experiments were performed on a set of water-wet sandstone plugs with different petrophysical properties, and X-ray computed tomography (CT-scan) imaging was used to accurately measure the local oil saturation. Oil ganglia size distribution as well as pore scale geometrical properties was also quantified at the scale of the micrometer using high-resolution micro-computed tomography (MCT). Results showed that the CDC depends on the pore structure and specifically on the average throat radius and the inverse of the relative permeability. Oil ganglia size distribution obtained by MCT follows a typical power law as suggested by percolation theory. We also showed that CDC obtained from macroscopic measurements can be predicted from the measured oil ganglia size distribution and rock structure geometrical parameters. In parallel, we observed that for low trapping numbers, water relative permeability is independent of the trapping number. However, for intermediate trapping numbers, a strong dependence of the water relative permeability on the latter can be noticed. In this range, we showed that water relative permeability has a specific scaling with the trapping number.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Multi-Scale Investigation of Pore Structure Impact on the Mobilization of Trapped Oil by Surfactant Injection

et al. 2015

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“…The majority of the applications of micromodels in studies of flow and transport in porous media are related to the immiscible displacement of two fluid phases (Avraam et al, 1994; Baouab et al, 2007; Dawe et al, 2010, 2011; Budwig, 1994; Chatenever and Calhoun, 1952; Chen and Wilkinson, 1985; Chuoke et al, 1959; Corapcioglu et al, 2009; Coskuner, 1997; Cottin et al, 2011; Crandall et al, 2009; de Zélicourt et al, 2005; Tóth et al, 2007; Tsakiroglou and Avraam, 2002; van der Marck and Glas, 1997; Wan et al, 1996; Chang et al, 2009a, 2009b; Theodoropoulou et al, 2005; Berejnov et al, 2008; Tsakiroglou et al, 2003a, 2003b, 2007). Processes of drainage and imbibition, as well as the mechanisms that dominate them, like viscous or capillary fingering, snap‐off, etc., have been studied using micromodels (Zhang et al, 2011a, 2011b; Ferer et al, 2004; Grate et al, 2010; Gutiérrez et al, 2008; Hug et al, 2003; Huh et al, 2007; Jeong and Corapcioglu, 2003, 2005; Jeong et al, 2000; Lovoll et al, 2005; Mattax and Kyte, 1961; Montemagno and Gray, 1995; Pyrak‐Nolte et al, 1988; Rangel‐German and Kovscek, 2006; Stöhr et al, 2003; Sugii and Okamoto, 2004; Tallakstad et al, 2009; Lenormand and Zarcone, 1985a, 1985b; Lenormand, 1989a, 1989b; Lenormand et al, 1988; Sharma et al, 2011; Romano et al, 2011; Frette et al, 1997).…”

Section: Applications Of Micromodels In Studies Of Flow and Transportmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Micromodels and Their Use in Two-Phase Flow Studies

Karadimitriou

Hassanizadeh

2012

Vadose Zone Journal

201

143

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During the last 25 to 30 yr , micromodels have been increasingly used to study the behavior of fl uids inside microstructures in various research areas. Studies have included chemical, biological, and physical applica ons. Micromodels have proven to be a valuable tool by enabling us to observe the fl ow of fl uids and transport of solutes within the pore space. They have helped to increase our insight into fl ow and transport phenomena on both micro-and macro-scales. In this review, we have considered only the applica on of micromodels in the study of two-phase fl ow in porous media. Various methods exist for genera ng pa erns used in micromodels. These include perfectly regular pa erns, par ally regular pa erns, fractal pa erns, and irregular pa erns. Various fabrica on methods and materials are used in making micromodels, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. The major fabrica on methods include: Hele-Shaw; glass beads; op cal lithography; wet, dry, and laser or plasma etching; stereo lithography, and so lithography. The distribu on of phases in micromodels can be visualized using (confocal) microscopes, digital cameras, or their combina on. Micromodels have been applied to the study of twophase displacement processes, measurements of fl uid-fl uid interfacial area and phase satura on, measurements of rela ve permeability, and the study of enhanced oil recovery.

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“…Numerous studies have been devoted to the subject and have demonstrated that a large span of parameters is potentially involved including ow rate, 2 viscosity ratio, 3,4 wetting properties, 5,6 the considered length scale 7 and the topology of the network. 8,9 Most of these studies focused on simple Newtonian uids, whereas in many applications, complex uids and in particular polymer solutions are used.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%