Three-dimensional imaging of multiphase flow in porous media

Turner, Michael L.; Knüfing, Lydia; Arns, Christoph H.; Sakellariou, Arthur; Senden, Tim J.; Sheppard, Adrian; Sok, Robert; Limaye, Ajay; Pinczewski, W.V.; Knackstedt, Mark

doi:10.1016/j.physa.2004.03.059

Cited by 93 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…For example, simultaneous micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) and micromechanical testing have been used to study the behavior of tissue scaffolds under compression [3], the structural change of a strained nonwoven papermaker felt [28], and the mechanical properties of sandstone [29]; while the permeabilities of sandstones and packed bed columns have been studied by imaging the water in the void space using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [1,6]. While micro-CT images the porous medium itself, MRI images the void space within (e.g.…”

Section: Fig1mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the one hand, knowing this relation enables the calculation of functional properties based on structural information; on the other hand, it can facilitate the design of porous materials for desired functional properties. Given the full 3-dimensional (3D) structure of the porous medium, for example, computer simulations can be used to solve Stokes' equation for the calculation of various static and dynamics properties of a fluid in the porous medium [4][5][6]. This type of simulation, however, is computationally expensive.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Three-dimensional imaging of electrospun fiber mats using confocal laser scanning microscopy and digital image analysis

Choong

2015

J Mater Sci

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Confocal laser scanning microscopy with fluorescent markers and index matching has been used to collect three-dimensional (3D) digitized images of electrospun fiber mats and of a borosilicate glass fiber material. By embedding the fluorescent dye in either the material component (fibers) or pore space component (the index matching fluid), acquisitions of both positive and negative images of the porous fibrous materials are demonstrated. Image analysis techniques are then applied to the 3D reconstructions of the fibrous materials to extract important morphological characteristics such as porosity, specific surface area, distributions of fiber diameter and of pore diameter, and fiber orientation distribution; the results are compared with other experimental measurements where available. The topology of the pore space is quantified for an electrospun mat for the first time using the Euler-Poincaré characteristic. Finally, a method is presented for subdividing the pore space into a network of cavities and the gates that interconnect them, by which the network structure of the pore space in these electrospun mats is determined.

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Section: Fig1mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three-dimensional imaging of electrospun fiber mats using confocal laser scanning microscopy and digital image analysis

Choong

2015

J Mater Sci

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“…The previously unidentified displacement mechanism has implications for (i) enhanced oil recovery, (ii) remediation of nonaqueous liquid contaminants in aquifers, and (iii) subsurface CO 2 storage. such as bead packs (22), sand packs (22)(23)(24)(25)(26), and sandstones (8,18,21,23), but less attention has been paid to carbonate rocks. However, more than 50% of the world's remaining oil reserves are located in carbonate reservoirs (27), and carbonate aquifers supply water wholly or partially to one quarter of the global population (28).…”

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confidence: 99%

Droplet fragmentation: 3D imaging of a previously unidentified pore-scale process during multiphase flow in porous media

Pak

Butler

Geiger

et al. 2015

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

150

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Using X-ray computed microtomography, we have visualized and quantified the in situ structure of a trapped nonwetting phase (oil) in a highly heterogeneous carbonate rock after injecting a wetting phase (brine) at low and high capillary numbers. We imaged the process of capillary desaturation in 3D and demonstrated its impacts on the trapped nonwetting phase cluster size distribution. We have identified a previously unidentified pore-scale event during capillary desaturation. This pore-scale event, described as droplet fragmentation of the nonwetting phase, occurs in larger pores. It increases volumetric production of the nonwetting phase after capillary trapping and enlarges the fluid−fluid interface, which can enhance mass transfer between the phases. Droplet fragmentation therefore has implications for a range of multiphase flow processes in natural and engineered porous media with complex heterogeneous pore spaces.droplet fragmentation | X-ray computed microtomography | pore-scale imaging | heterogeneous porous media | carbonate rock M ultiphase fluid displacement processes in porous media are important for a broad range of natural and engineering applications such as transport of nonaqueous phase liquid contaminants in aquifers, oil and gas production from hydrocarbon reservoirs, subsurface CO 2 storage, or gas transport in fuel cells. Herein, capillary trapping is a fundamental mechanism that causes immobilization of a portion of the resident nonwetting phase when it is displaced by an invading wetting phase. As a result, production of the nonwetting phase is always less than 100%.The pore-scale physics of capillary trapping are broadly understood, as the underlying mechanisms such as piston-like displacement, snap-off and film development have been observed in physical micromodel experiments and quantitative theories have been established for them (1-4). The conventional view considers such pore-scale processes to occur between multiple pores, i.e., they are interpore processes and the pores are defined as volumes connected by narrower pore throats. By contrast, intrapore processes, as presented in this paper, are not well established in the literature. During drainage (i.e., where a nonwetting phase displaces the wetting phase), the wetting phase can establish films in the corners of the pores, which results in its continuous production and hence low residual saturations of the wetting phase. During imbibition (i.e., where the wetting phase displaces a nonwetting phase), swelling of the corner wetting films causes snap-off of the nonwetting phase, which results in capillary trapping of the nonwetting phase. The trapped nonwetting phase exists as disconnected ganglia within the pore network. Numerical pore network models have been developed to include these porelevel mechanisms with the aim of predicting the macroscopic flow properties of porous materials such as the structure of the phase distributions, residual saturation, relative permeability functions, and capillary pressure curves. Some of these mod...

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“…Distribution of the polymer gel in the porous medium was studied by micro-computed tomography of core samples which were drilled out from the 1-m core after the experiment was finished (van Krevelen and te Nijenhuis 2008; Hove et al 1990;Turner et al 2004;Saadatfar et al 2005;Al-Muntasheri et al 2008). The distribution of the polymer can explain the change in the dispersion coefficient.…”

Section: Polmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flow of a Cross-Linking Polymer in Porous Media

2018

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Heterogeneous reservoirs often have poor sweep efficiency during flooding. Although polymer flooding can be used to improve the recovery, in-depth diversion might provide a more economical alternative. Most of the in-depth diversion techniques are based on the propagation of a system that forms a gel in the reservoir. Premature cross-linking of the system prevents the fluid from penetrating deeply into the reservoir and as such reduces the efficiency of the treatment. We studied the effect of using a polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) to (temporarily) hide the cross-linker from the polymer molecules. In addition to studying the cross-linking process in bulk, we demonstrated its behaviour at the core scale (1 m length) as well as on the pore scale. The gelation time in bulk suggested that the PEC could effectively delay the time of the cross-linking even at high brine salinity. However the delay experienced in the core flood experiment was much shorter. Tracer tests demonstrated that the XL polymer, which is a mixture of PEC and partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide, reduced the core pore volume by roughly 6.2% (in absolute terms). The micro-CT images showed that most of the XL polymer was retained in the smaller pores of the core. The large increase in dispersion coefficient suggests that this must have resulted in the creation of a few dominant flow paths isolated from each other by closure of the smaller pores. Keywords

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Three-dimensional imaging of multiphase flow in porous media

Cited by 93 publications

References 15 publications

Three-dimensional imaging of electrospun fiber mats using confocal laser scanning microscopy and digital image analysis

Three-dimensional imaging of electrospun fiber mats using confocal laser scanning microscopy and digital image analysis

Droplet fragmentation: 3D imaging of a previously unidentified pore-scale process during multiphase flow in porous media

Flow of a Cross-Linking Polymer in Porous Media

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