Experimental Investigation of Interfacial Geometry associated with Multiphase Flow within Two- and Three- Dimensional Porous Medium

Pyrak-Nolte 0509759多孔介质中多相流体动力学的尺度放大技术的主要挑战是确定微观尺度上的哪些性质可以用于预测宏观流动和流体相在岩心和油田尺度上的空间分布。在过去的十年中，第一性原理的理论公式已经从体积平均定理中推导出来，其中明确纳入了微观界面行为。这些理论提出单位体积界面面积直接影响宏观行为，并且该变量可以控制在毛细管压力-饱和度关系中观察到的滞后。二维和三维微观模型将用于直接成像和量化的界面几何形状的行为，同时测量流体压力（全球和本地）和流体流量。具体的科学目标是：（a）确定毛管压力、饱和度和每体积界面面积之间的整体平均关系是否对于统计上相似的孔隙分布是通用的，（B）量化稳态流动条件下界面几何形状、饱和度和相对渗透率之间的关系，以及（c）确定与动态流动条件相关的松弛系数是否取决于界面几何形状随时间的演变。此外，我们提出了革命性的使用微观模型在多孔介质中的流体的研究在两个方面：（a）纳入当地的探针到二维微观模型来测量局部压力;（B）一个新的双光子光刻技术的发展，用于创建透明的三维微观模型，可以直接成像通过使用激光共聚焦显微镜。拟议活动的智力价值是获得明确的数据集连接界面面积和其他相关的几何微观尺度数据，真正的三维微观模型上的macroscopichydraulic properties。所提出的实验方法和分析的结合将使人们有可能第一次回答的主要问题的微观性质是最有用的预测宏观流动性质的多孔介质.拟议活动的更广泛影响将是确认/反驳用于解决多孔介质中多种流体的流动和分布预测的理论方法，这些方法影响石油，天然气和水生产，地下水保护，化学工程中的化学混合和处理以及生物学和生物工程中的多孔组织应用。我们的外展目标是三重：（1）培养和教育研究生和本科生在实验室研究的科学;（2）与科学教育专业的工作，以开发7-12年级的动手实验;和（3）将动手实验融入我们的物理外展计划，达到7 -12年级的学生，以及整个印第安纳州的家长和教师。

Pyrak-Nolte0509759The principal challenge of upscaling techniques for multi-phase fluid dynamics in porousmedia is to determine which properties on the micro-scale can be used to predict macroscopicflow and the spatial distribution of fluid phases at core- and field-scales. First-principlestheoretical formulations over the past decade have been derived from volume averagingtheorems in which microscopic interfacial behavior is explicitly incorporated. These theories haveproposed that interfacial area per volume directly affects macroscopic behavior, and that thisvariable may govern the observed hysteresis in the capillary pressure - saturation relationship.The scientific objective of this proposal is to measure the evolution of interfaces amongmultiple phases in a porous medium. Two- and three-dimensional micro-models will be used todirectly image and quantify the behavior of the interfacial geometry while concurrently measuringfluid pressures (globally and locally) and fluid flow. The specific scientific goals are: (a) todetermine if an ensemble-averaged relationship among capillary pressure, saturation andinterfacial area per volume may be universal for statistically similar pore distributions, (b) toquantify the relationship between interfacial geometry, saturation and relative permeability forsteady-state flow conditions, and (c) to determine if the relaxation coefficient associated withdynamic flow conditions depends on the evolution of the interfacial geometry with time. Inaddition, we propose to revolutionize the use of micro-models in the study of fluids in porousmedia in two ways: (a) the incorporation of local probes into two-dimensional micro-models tomeasure local pressures; and (b) the development of a new two-photon lithographic technique forcreating transparent three-dimensional micro-models that can be directly imaged by using laserconfocal microscopy.Merit Criteria:1. The intellectual merit of the proposed activity is the acquisition of explicit data setsconnecting interfacial areas, and other relevant geometric micro-scale data, with macroscopichydraulic properties on truly three-dimensional micro-models. The proposed combination ofexperimental methods and analysis will make it possible for the first time to answer the principalquestion of which microscopic properties are most useful for predicting macroscopic flowproperties of a porous medium.2. The broader impact from the proposed activity will be confirmation/disproof of theoreticalmethods used for addressing the prediction of flow and distributions of multiple fluids in a porousmedium which affects applications in oil, gas and water production, ground water protection,chemical mixing and processing in chemical engineering, and in porous tissue applications ofbiology and bioengineering. Our outreach objective is three-fold: (1) To train and educategraduate and undergraduate students in the science of laboratory research; (2) To work withscience education majors to develop hands-on experiments for grades 7-12; and (3) To integratethe hands-on experiments into our Physics Outreach Program which reaches students in grades7-12, as well as parents and teachers throughout Indiana.