Pore scale investigation of hydrogen injection in sandstone via X-ray micro-tomography

Characterization of wetting using topological principles

Understanding transport phenomena and governing mechanisms of different physical and chemical processes in porous media has been a critical research area for decades. Correlating fluid flow behaviour at the micro-scale with macro-scale parameters, such as relative permeability and capillary pressure, is key to understanding the processes governing subsurface systems, and this in turn allows us to improve the accuracy of modelling and simulations of transport phenomena at a large scale. Over the last two decades, there have been significant developments in our understanding of pore-scale processes and modelling of complex underground systems. Microfluidic devices (micromodels) and imaging techniques, as facilitators to link experimental observations to simulation, have greatly contributed to these achievements. Although several reviews exist covering separately advances in one of these two areas, we present here a detailed review integrating recent advances and applications in both micromodels and imaging techniques. This includes a comprehensive analysis of critical aspects of fabrication techniques of micromodels, and the most recent advances such as embedding fibre optic sensors in micromodels for research applications. To complete the analysis of visualization techniques, we have thoroughly reviewed the most applicable imaging techniques in the area of geoscience and geo-energy. Moreover, the integration of microfluidic devices and imaging techniques was highlighted as appropriate. In this review, we focus particularly on four prominent yet very wide application areas, namely “fluid flow in porous media”, “flow in heterogeneous rocks and fractures”, “reactive transport, solute and colloid transport”, and finally “porous media characterization”. In summary, this review provides an in-depth analysis of micromodels and imaging techniques that can help to guide future research in the in-situ visualization of fluid flow in porous media.

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Review of Microfluidic Devices and Imaging Techniques for Fluid Flow Study in Porous Geomaterials.

次世代燃料電池触媒開発のための in situ characterization

Wettability is one of the key controlling parameters for multiphase flow in porous media, and paramount for various geoscience applications. While a general awareness of the importance of wettability was established decades ago, our fundamental understanding of how wettability influences transport and of how to characterize wettability has improved tremendously in recent years through breakthroughs in imaging technology and modeling techniques. Numerical modeling studies clearly show not only that macroscopic two-phase flow is influenced by the average wettability, but also that the spatial distribution of wetting significantly impacts the macroscopic parameters. Herein, we explore the thermodynamics for porous multiphase systems, and recent breakthroughs in wettability characterization. Our view is that bridging the multiscale characterization of wetting must consider two fundamental perspectives: geometry and energy. Advancing the overall description requires an improved understanding of the operative mechanisms that dominate at various scales, and the development of quantitative approaches to capture these effects. We take a multistage approach, looking at these fundamental perspectives from the sub-pore-to-pore length scales, followed by the pore-to-core length scales using various analytical techniques and numerical simulations. Within this context, there remain many open-ended questions, and we therefore highlight these issues to provide guidance on future research directions. Our overall aim is to provide comprehensive guidance on the multiscale characterization of wettability in porous media, in order to facilitate novel research.

Multiscale Characterization of Wettability in Porous Media

Hypothesis Capillary-dominated multiphase flow in porous materials is strongly affected by the pore walls’ wettability. Recent micro-computed tomography (mCT) studies found unexpectedly wide contact angle distributions measured on static fluid distributions inside the pores. We hypothesize that analysis on time-resolved mCT data of fluid invasion events may be more directly relevant to the fluid dynamics. Experiment We approximated receding contact angles locally in time and space on time-resolved mCT datasets of drainage in a glass bead pack and a limestone. Whenever a meniscus suddenly entered one or more pores, geometric and thermodynamically consistent contact angles in the surrounding pores were measured in the time step just prior to the displacement event. We introduced a new force-based contact angle, defined to recover the measured capillary pressure in the invaded pore throat prior to interface movement. Findings Unlike the classical method, the new geometric and force-based contact angles followed plausible, narrower distributions and were mutually consistent. We were unable to obtain credible results with the thermodynamically consistent method, likely because of sensitivity to common imaging artifacts and neglecting dissipation. Time-resolved mCT analysis can yield a more appropriate wettability characterization for pore scale models, despite the need to further reduce image analysis uncertainties.

https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8655671/file/8656433.pdf

Event-based contact angle measurements inside porous media using time-resolved micro-computed tomography.

Heterogeneous fracture aperture distribution, dictated by surface roughness, mechanical rock and fracture properties, and effective stress, limits the predictive capabilities of many reservoir‐scale models that commonly assume smooth fracture walls. Numerous experimental studies have probed key hydromechanical responses in single fractures; however, many are constrained by difficulties associated with sample preparation and quantitative roughness characterisation. Here, we systematically examine the effect of roughness on fluid flow properties by 3D printing seven self‐affine fractures, each with controlled roughness distributions akin to those observed in nature. Photogrammetric microscopy was employed to validate the 3D topology of each printed fracture surface, enabling quantification using traditional roughness metrics, namely the Joint Roughness Coefficient (JRC). Core‐flooding experiments performed on each fracture across eight incremental confining pressure increases (11 to 25 bar), shows smoother fractures (JRC 7) show as much as a 219% permeability increase. Micro‐computed tomography imaging of the roughest fracture under varying effective stresses (5 to 13.8 bar), coupled with inspection into the degree of similarity between fracture closure behaviour in 3D‐printed and natural rock fractures, highlight the capabilities of 3D‐printed materials to act as useful analogues to natural rocks. Comparison of experimental data to existing empirical aperture‐permeability models demonstrates that fracture contact area is a better permeability predictor than roughness when the mechanical aperture is below ∼20 μm. Such findings are relevant for models incorporating the effects of heterogeneous aperture structures and applied stress to predict fracture flow in the deep subsurface.

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1029/2020WR028671

A Systematic Investigation into the Control of Roughness on the Flow Properties of 3D‐Printed Fractures

The behavior of a sandy soil in laboratory tests is highly influenced by the sedimentation technique. In this study, a calcareous sand from the reclamation site in Persian Gulf is used as the mater...

X-ray analysis on the effect of sample preparation on the microstructure of calcareous sands

https://biblio.ugent.be/publication/8719442/file/8719444.pdf

The impact of pore-throat shape evolution during dissolution on carbonate rock permeability: Pore network modeling and experiments

Multiphase flow is important for many natural and engineered processes in subsurface geoscience. Pore-scale multiphase flow dynamics are commonly characterized by an average balance of driving forces. However, significant local variability in this balance may exist inside natural, heterogeneous porous materials, such as rocks and soils. Here, we investigate multiphase flow in heterogeneous rocks with different wetting properties using fast laboratory-based 4D X-ray imaging. The mixed-wet dynamics were characterized by displacement rates that differed over orders of magnitude between directly neighboring pores. While conventional understanding predicted strongly capillary-dominated conditions, our analysis suggests that viscous forces played a key role in these dynamics, facilitated by a complex interplay between the mixed-wettability and the pore structure. These dynamics highlight the need for further studies on the fundamental controls on multiphase flow in geomaterials, which is crucial to design, e.g., groundwater remediation and subsurface CO2 storage operations.

https://eartharxiv.org/repository/object/2459/download/5729/

Arjen Mascini

Papers

Event-based contact angle measurements inside porous media using time-resolved micro-computed tomography.

A Systematic Investigation into the Control of Roughness on the Flow Properties of 3D‐Printed Fractures

X-ray analysis on the effect of sample preparation on the microstructure of calcareous sands

The impact of pore-throat shape evolution during dissolution on carbonate rock permeability: Pore network modeling and experiments

Fluid Invasion Dynamics in Porous Media with Complex Wettability and Connectivity