Transport Phenomena and Fluid Mechanics

Visualizing multiphase flow and trapped fluid configurations in a model three-dimensional porous medium

  1. Amber T. Krummel1,†,‡,§,
  2. Sujit S. Datta1,‡,
  3. Stefan Münster1,2,
  4. David A. Weitz1,*

Article first published online: 18 JAN 2013

DOI: 10.1002/aic.14005

Issue

AIChE Journal

AIChE Journal

Volume 59, Issue 3, pages 1022–1029, March 2013

Additional Information

How to Cite

Krummel, A. T., Datta, S. S., Münster, S. and Weitz, D. A. (2013), Visualizing multiphase flow and trapped fluid configurations in a model three-dimensional porous medium. AIChE J., 59: 1022–1029. doi: 10.1002/aic.14005

Author Information

  1. 1

    Dept. of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

  2. 2

    Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light and Center for Medical Physics and Technology, Universitat Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

  1. †

    Dept. of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO

  1. ‡

    A. T. Krummel and S. S. Datta contributed equally to this work.

  2. §

    Present address for A. T. Krummel: Dept. of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523.

*Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to D. A. Weitz at weitz@seas.harvard.edu.

  1. ‡

    A. T. Krummel and S. S. Datta contributed equally to this work.

  2. §

    Present address for A. T. Krummel: Dept. of Chemistry, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 20 FEB 2013
  2. Article first published online: 18 JAN 2013
  3. Accepted manuscript online: 10 JAN 2013 10:56AM EST
  4. Manuscript Revised: 16 NOV 2012
  5. Manuscript Received: 26 MAR 2012

Funded by

  • AEC
  • Harvard MRSEC. Grant Number: DMR-0820484
  • ConocoPhillips

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Keywords:

  • fluid mechanics and transport phenomena;
  • porous media;
  • multiphase flow;
  • permeability;
  • capillarity;
  • wetting

We report an approach to fully visualize the flow of two immiscible fluids through a model three-dimensional (3-D) porous medium at pore-scale resolution. Using confocal microscopy, we directly image the drainage of the medium by the nonwetting oil and subsequent imbibition by the wetting fluid. During imbibition, the wetting fluid pinches off threads of oil in the narrow crevices of the medium, forming disconnected oil ganglia. Some of these ganglia remain trapped within the medium. By resolving the full 3-D structure of the trapped ganglia, we show that the typical ganglion size, as well as the total amount of residual oil, decreases as the capillary number Ca increases; this behavior reflects the competition between the viscous pressure in the wetting fluid and the capillary pressure required to force oil through the pores of the medium. This work thus shows how pore-scale fluid dynamics influence the trapped fluid configurations in multiphase flow through 3-D porous media. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59:1022-1029, 2013

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