Pore-scale dynamics and the multiphase Darcy law

A pore-scale experimental investigation of microscopic steady-state flow during co-injection from very low to high flow rates in the pore space of a sandstone is applied using 4D synchrotron X-ray micro-tomography to advance our understanding of flow regimes. We report the results of micro-CT imaging experiments directly visualizing the simultaneous flow of both a wetting and a non-wetting fluid through a Bentheimer sandstone, at pore-scale resolution. For small flow rates, both fluids flow through unchanging, distinct, bicontinuous 3D pathways. At higher flow rates, however, the non-wetting fluid continually breaks up into discrete ganglia; these are then advected through the medium. We propose that the non-wetting fluid breaks up when the sum of the viscous forces exerted by the wetting and the non-wetting fluids exceed the capillary forces at the pore scale.

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Last Updated September 30, 2025, 18:18 (UTC)
Created February 26, 2020, 14:55 (UTC)