Time-resolved visualization of two-phase flow experiments with resolution of 8 um/pixel
Project Description
The main focus of the project is on the performance of advanced micro-fluidic experiments to analyse multiphase flow processes and, by using advanced visualization and image processing techniques, to characterize the effects taking place at the interface between all phases, including the wetting and non-wetting phases, during drainage/imbibition cycles. The micro-fluidic experiments allow for the investigation of viscous and capillary dominated flow scenarios, in which a broad range for capillary number (Ca) and viscosity ratio (M) are employed in order to highlight their effect on the evolution of flow in a temporal and spatial manner. Furthermore, the role of the flow domain geometry in the evolution of flow, will also be investigated for the above-mentioned combinations of boundary conditions and physical fluids’ properties. A number of flow domains with similar average properties will be evaluated with respect to the corresponding Representative Elementary Volume (REV). The advantage of having a high temporal and spatial resolution from the experimental setup, will serve in the favour of time-dependent investigations of relaxation aspects of interfacial area. The obtained morphological images in the Ca-M-domain will be segmented, analysed, clustered and related to physical properties (like the coarse-grained capillary pressure or effective characteristic time scales) by Machine Learning (ML). The results for low capillary numbers (capillarity-dominated flow regime) and the principles of invasion percolation theory will be applied in an effort to identify patterns and norms which could potentially be generalized independently of the geometry of the flow domain. Image-based experimental data will be supplemented by data-rich simulation results obtained from pore-scale resolved Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) via Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH).
Project Information
| Project Number | PN1-4 |
| Project Name | Image-based morphological characterization of multiphase porous media flow |
| Project Duration | January 2019 - June 2022 |
| Project Leader | Holger Steeb |
| Project Members | Holger Class Nikolaos Karadimitriou Samaneh Vahid Dastjerdi, PhD Researcher |
| Project Partners |
Thomas Ertl, Steffen Frey, and Stefan Scheller, VISUS Team, Ertl Group, (SimTech internal) as well as through SFB 1313 Project D01 (Visualization of multi-field processes in porous media), University of Stuttgart. This collaboration aims at improving the interpretation of experimental results in terms of image processing. Andreas Yiotis, School of Mineral Resources Engineering, Technical University of Crete, Chania, Greece & Ioannis Zarikos, Environmental Research Laboratory, National Center for Scientific Research ’Demokritos’, Agia Paraskevi, Greece: We performed microfluidic experiments for the validation of a robust Level-Set model capable of explicitly tracking interfacial dynamics at subpore scale resolutions under similar flow conditions. Sharul Hasan, Senyou An, Arash Rabbani, Vahid Niasar, Department of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom &Jose R. A. Godinho, Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for ResourceTechnology, 09599 Freiberg, Germany: Using advanced high-speed, high-spatial resolution, Synchrotron-based X-ray Computed -Tomography (sXRCT) we obtained (for the 1st time) detailed information on solute transport through a glass bead packing at different saturations. A large experimental set of data (>50 TB) was produced, while imaging the evolution of the solute concentration with time at any given point within the field of view. Nghia T. Vo, Diamond House, Didcot OX11 0DE, United Kingdom: Nghia is beamline scientist at the Diamond Light Source UK; we have on-going cooperations on fast sXRCT for multiphase flow in porous media. Huhao Gao, Martin Sauter, Department of Applied Geology, University of Goettingen, 37073, Goettingen, Germany & Alexandru B. Tatomir, Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University, 752 36 Uppsala, Sweden: We propose a new method to quantitatively analyze how the concentration of the KIS-tracer reaction product in the effluent is affected by the presence of immobile zones (we perform advanced microfluidic experiments). |