X-ray Microtomography of Intermittency in Multiphase Flow at Steady State Using a Differential Imaging Method.

ABSTRACT: We imaged the steady state flow of brine and decane in Bentheimer sandstone. We devised an experimental method based on differential imaging to examine how flow rate impacts impact the pore-scale distribution of fluids during coinjection. This allows us to elucidate flow regimes (connected, or breakup of the nonwetting phase pathways) for a range of fractional flows at two capillary numbers, Ca, namely 3.0 × 10^-7 and 7.5 × 10^-6. At the lower Ca, for a fixed fractional flow, the two phases appear to flow in connected unchanging subnetworks of the pore space, consistent with conventional theory. At the higher Ca, we observed that a significant fraction of the pore space contained sometimes oil and sometimes brine during the 1 h scan: this intermitte

SUBMITTER: Gao Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6175102 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature