Hydrodynamics of gas-liquid displacement in porous media: fingering pattern evolution at the breakthrough moment and the steady state
Yang, Shuo LU
; Kong, Gaopan
LU
; Cao, Zhen
LU
; Wu, Zan
LU
and Li, Hongxia
(2022)
In Advances in Water Resources
170.
- Abstract
- Gas-liquid displacement in porous media widely exists in many terrestrial/extraterrestrial subsurface resource
extraction and utilization applications. The typical fingering displacement during gas invading has been well
identified through extensive research efforts. Yet, the evolution of fingering structures after invading breakthrough is rarely reported. Herein, through a joint approach of experimental flow imaging and digital image
processing, we investigated the gas-liquid fingering displacement in a porous-patterned microfluidic chip from
the breakthrough moment until reaching the steady state. With a wide range of capillary number Ca and viscosity
ratio M, we visualized the evolution of finger morphologies in... (More) - Gas-liquid displacement in porous media widely exists in many terrestrial/extraterrestrial subsurface resource
extraction and utilization applications. The typical fingering displacement during gas invading has been well
identified through extensive research efforts. Yet, the evolution of fingering structures after invading breakthrough is rarely reported. Herein, through a joint approach of experimental flow imaging and digital image
processing, we investigated the gas-liquid fingering displacement in a porous-patterned microfluidic chip from
the breakthrough moment until reaching the steady state. With a wide range of capillary number Ca and viscosity
ratio M, we visualized the evolution of finger morphologies in different flow regimes including capillary
fingering (CF), viscous fingering (VF), and crossover zone (CZ). Interestingly, we found that finger structures of
CF regime remain the same after the breakthrough, whereas fingers of VF regime keep expanding until almost all
the pore space is invaded and eventually reaches to steady state. Followed with experimental observations, a
comparative quantification of fingering patterns was also conducted in terms of invasion velocity, phase saturation and fractal dimension. A dramatic increase of gas saturation, from 0.15 to 0.60 at the case of Log10Ca=-
5.17 and Log10M=-2.78, is obtained in the VF regime when the steady state is reached, so is the fractal dimension
(from 0.14 to 0.16, even higher than one of CF). The underlying mechanism of such fingering expansion in VF is
further revealed from the time evolution of fingering after breakthrough. A previously unobserved fingering
cycle, consisting of new finger forming, cap invading, breakthrough and finger vanishing, keeps repeating until
the saturation reaches the maximum. We believe that these findings are of significance in evaluating extraction
effectiveness, economic benefits and storage safety for subsurface applications. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/c5d11088-ca15-4a29-b0ac-e14d93c42fbb
- author
- Yang, Shuo
LU
; Kong, Gaopan
LU
; Cao, Zhen
LU
; Wu, Zan
LU
and Li, Hongxia
- organization
- publishing date
- 2022
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Gas-liquid displacement, Fingering invasion, Interface instability, Porous media, Invasion hydrodynamics
- in
- Advances in Water Resources
- volume
- 170
- article number
- 104324
- publisher
- Elsevier
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85141664412
- ISSN
- 0309-1708
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.advwatres.2022.104324
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- c5d11088-ca15-4a29-b0ac-e14d93c42fbb
- date added to LUP
- 2022-11-11 14:56:15
- date last changed
- 2024-02-02 07:24:31
@article{c5d11088-ca15-4a29-b0ac-e14d93c42fbb,
abstract = {{Gas-liquid displacement in porous media widely exists in many terrestrial/extraterrestrial subsurface resource <br/>extraction and utilization applications. The typical fingering displacement during gas invading has been well <br/>identified through extensive research efforts. Yet, the evolution of fingering structures after invading breakthrough is rarely reported. Herein, through a joint approach of experimental flow imaging and digital image <br/>processing, we investigated the gas-liquid fingering displacement in a porous-patterned microfluidic chip from <br/>the breakthrough moment until reaching the steady state. With a wide range of capillary number Ca and viscosity <br/>ratio M, we visualized the evolution of finger morphologies in different flow regimes including capillary <br/>fingering (CF), viscous fingering (VF), and crossover zone (CZ). Interestingly, we found that finger structures of <br/>CF regime remain the same after the breakthrough, whereas fingers of VF regime keep expanding until almost all <br/>the pore space is invaded and eventually reaches to steady state. Followed with experimental observations, a <br/>comparative quantification of fingering patterns was also conducted in terms of invasion velocity, phase saturation and fractal dimension. A dramatic increase of gas saturation, from 0.15 to 0.60 at the case of Log10Ca=- <br/>5.17 and Log10M=-2.78, is obtained in the VF regime when the steady state is reached, so is the fractal dimension <br/>(from 0.14 to 0.16, even higher than one of CF). The underlying mechanism of such fingering expansion in VF is <br/>further revealed from the time evolution of fingering after breakthrough. A previously unobserved fingering <br/>cycle, consisting of new finger forming, cap invading, breakthrough and finger vanishing, keeps repeating until <br/>the saturation reaches the maximum. We believe that these findings are of significance in evaluating extraction <br/>effectiveness, economic benefits and storage safety for subsurface applications.}},
author = {{Yang, Shuo and Kong, Gaopan and Cao, Zhen and Wu, Zan and Li, Hongxia}},
issn = {{0309-1708}},
keywords = {{Gas-liquid displacement; Fingering invasion; Interface instability; Porous media; Invasion hydrodynamics}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Elsevier}},
series = {{Advances in Water Resources}},
title = {{Hydrodynamics of gas-liquid displacement in porous media: fingering pattern evolution at the breakthrough moment and the steady state}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2022.104324}},
doi = {{10.1016/j.advwatres.2022.104324}},
volume = {{170}},
year = {{2022}},
}