Multiphase flow in porous media
Multiphase flow through porous media is an important phenomenon in resource extraction, industrial processes, and environmental remediation. This includes residual crude oil trapped within the rock matrix following primary and secondary recovery, membrane and chromatography based separations, contaminant transport in the environment, and extraction of natural gas from sales and tight gas sands. Fluid and solute transport between natural microscale pores and nanoscale features is poorly understood. Part of this poor understanding can be attributed to the lack of experimental models of porous media that allow the visualization of fluids at the pore scales. In collaboration with Xiaolong Yin at Colorado School of Mines, Yinfa Ma and Baojun Bai at Missouri University of Science and Technology, and Scott Retterer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory we have developed a series of micro- and nanofluidic pore scale models based on periodic and random network topologies. These models allow for direct visualization of multiphase flow and phase behavior at reservoir temperatures and pressures and have been used to screen surfactant formulations.
This work was funded by the American Chemical Society and the United States Department of Energy.
Related Publications
Y. Tian, X. Yu, J. Li, X. Yin, K.B. Neeves, Y. Wu. Scaling law for slip flow of gases in nanoporous media from nanofluidics, rock, and pore-scale simulations. Fuel, 236 (2019): 1065-1077. DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2018.09.036
L. Wang, X. Yin, K.B. Neeves, E. Ozkan. Effect of pore-size distribution on phase transition of hydrocarbon mixtures in nanoporous media. SPE Journal, 21 (2016): 1981-1995. DOI: 10.2118/170894-PA
K. He, L. Xu, Y. Gao, X. Yin, K.B. Neeves. Evaluation of surfactant performance in fracturing fluids for enhanced well productivity in the unconventional reservoirs using rock-on-a-chip approach. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, 136 (2015): 531-541. DOI: 10.1016/j.petrol.2015.10.008
W. Xu, J.T. Ok, F. Xiao, K.B. Neeves, X. Yin. The effect of pore geometry and interfacial tension on water-oil displacement efficiency in oil-wet microfluidic porous media analogs. Physics of Fluids, 26 (2014): 093102. DOI: 10.1063/1.4894071
Q. Wu, B. Bai, Y. Ma, J.T. Ok, X. Yin, K.B. Neeves. Optic imaging of two-phase flow behavior in one-dimensional nano-scale channels. SPE Journal, 19 (2014): 793-802. DOI: 10.2118/164549-P
Q. Wu, J.T. Ok, Y. Sun, S.T. Retterer, K.B. Neeves, X. Yin, B. Bai, Y. Ma. Optic imaging of single and two-phase pressure driven flow in nano-scale channels. Lab on a Chip, 13 (2013): 1165-1171. DOI: 10.1039/C2LC41259D
M. Wu, F. Xiao, R.M. Johnson-Paben, S.T. Retterer, X. Yin, K.B. Neeves. Single- and two-phase flow in microfluidic porous media analogs based on Voronoi tessellation. Lab on a Chip, 12 (2012), 253-261. DOI: 10.1039/C1LC20838A