Multimodality Imaging of Fluid Saturation and Chemical Transport for Two-Phase Surfactant/Polymer Floods in Porous Rocks

IF 2.7 3区工程技术 Q3 ENGINEERING, CHEMICAL Transport in Porous Media Pub Date : 2024-12-12 DOI:10.1007/s11242-024-02146-0

Andrea Rovelli, James Brodie, Bilal Rashid, Weparn J. Tay, Ronny Pini

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Abstract

Multicomponent, two-phase flow in porous media is a problem of practical relevance that remains difficult to study experimentally. Advanced methodologies are needed that enable the monitoring of both the saturation of each fluid phase within the pore space and the concentration of the chemical species within the fluids. We present an approach based on multimodality imaging and apply it to the case study of surfactant/polymer flooding in a sandstone for enhanced oil recovery. X-ray computed tomography and positron emission tomography (PET) are applied for the asynchronous acquisition of dynamic profiles of saturations (aqueous and oleic) and of the solute concentration within the surfactant/polymer slug, respectively. This complementary dataset enables precise investigation of the evolution of both the oil bank and the induced mixing at its rear arising from the surfactant/polymer flooding process. The dilution index, intensity of segregation and the spreading length are used to quantify the degree of mixing within the surfactant/polymer slug as a function of time from the spatial structure of the solute concentration field. Relative to the single-phase flow scenario, a threefold increase in dispersivity is observed. We demonstrate that mixing is systematically overestimated if only the PET dataset is used—highlighting the importance of implementing multimodality imaging. We also show that the advection–dispersion equation model, parameterised using the dispersivity derived from the experiments, provides reasonable estimates for the rate of both mixing and spreading.

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来源期刊

Transport in Porous Media 工程技术-工程：化工

CiteScore

5.30

自引率

7.40%

发文量

155

审稿时长

4.2 months

期刊介绍： -Publishes original research on physical, chemical, and biological aspects of transport in porous media- Papers on porous media research may originate in various areas of physics, chemistry, biology, natural or materials science, and engineering (chemical, civil, agricultural, petroleum, environmental, electrical, and mechanical engineering)- Emphasizes theory, (numerical) modelling, laboratory work, and non-routine applications- Publishes work of a fundamental nature, of interest to a wide readership, that provides novel insight into porous media processes- Expanded in 2007 from 12 to 15 issues per year. Transport in Porous Media publishes original research on physical and chemical aspects of transport phenomena in rigid and deformable porous media. These phenomena, occurring in single and multiphase flow in porous domains, can be governed by extensive quantities such as mass of a fluid phase, mass of component of a phase, momentum, or energy. Moreover, porous medium deformations can be induced by the transport phenomena, by chemical and electro-chemical activities such as swelling, or by external loading through forces and displacements. These porous media phenomena may be studied by researchers from various areas of physics, chemistry, biology, natural or materials science, and engineering (chemical, civil, agricultural, petroleum, environmental, electrical, and mechanical engineering).