Manipulation of viscous fingering in a radially tapered cell geometry

Physical Review. E
Grégoire Bongrand, Peichun Amy Tsai

Abstract

When a more mobile fluid displaces another immiscible one in a porous medium, viscous fingering propagates with a partial sweep, which hinders oil recovery and soil remedy. We experimentally investigate the feasibility of tuning such fingering propagation in a nonuniform narrow passage with a radial injection, which is widely used in various applications. We show that a radially converging cell can suppress the common viscous fingering observed in a uniform passage, and a full sweep of the displaced fluid is then achieved. The injection flow rate Q can be further exploited to manipulate the viscous fingering instability. For a fixed gap gradient α, our experimental results show a full sweep at a small Q but partial displacement with fingering at a sufficient Q. Finally, by varying α, we identify and characterize the variation of the critical threshold between stable and unstable displacements. Our experimental results reveal good agreement with theoretical predictions by a linear stability analysis.

References

Jun 13, 2009·Physical Review Letters·Shuwang LiPeter Palffy-Muhoray
Oct 23, 2012·Physical Review Letters·Eduardo O DiasJosé A Miranda
Jun 19, 2013·Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics·Eduardo O Dias, José A Miranda
Aug 6, 2013·Physical Review Letters·Talal T Al-HousseinyHoward A Stone
Oct 29, 2013·Physical Review Letters·John R ListerJerome A Neufeld
Nov 10, 2015·Physical Review Letters·Zhong ZhengHoward A Stone
Aug 26, 2016·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Benzhong ZhaoRuben Juanes
Mar 4, 2017·Physical Review Letters·Jungchul KimSungyon Lee

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