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A microscopic particle image velocimetry method for studying the dynamics of immiscible liquid–liquid interactions in a porous micromodel

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Abstract

The development of an experimental protocol to investigate the flow field produced by the interaction of two immiscible liquids flowing through a porous network is reported. The experimental protocol allows simultaneous quantification of the velocity distribution in a multi-liquid system based on the microscopic particle image velocimetry technique. The experimental challenges associated with this unique application are discussed, including two-liquid imaging and interface tracking, and solutions that couple refractive index matching and fluorescent signal separation are described. The technique was applied to both single- and two-liquid flows in a two-dimensional pore network comprising a staggered array of circular pillars wherein the flow was driven by a steady pressure gradient. Both drainage and imbibition were considered herein with a focus on fluid–fluid front migration and effects owing to the passage of the interface. The velocity distribution obtained for these two-liquid-phase flow scenarios revealed several peculiarities when compared to the reference case of single-liquid-phase flow. In particular, the instabilities associated with the interfacial processes propagate downstream and perturb the flow field, resulting in dramatic differences from the regular and periodic flow paths typical of steady-state, single-phase flow. Additionally, the passage of the interface does not restore previous flow patterns, but instead yields complex preferential flow paths that mutually interact with residual trapped pockets of fluid. Such dynamical events must be quantified in order to properly model the pore-scale physics central to fully understanding the wealth of practical applications represented by this model flow system.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I2CNER), sponsored by the World Premier International Research Center Initiative (WPI), MEXT, Japan. The first author (G. B.) was supported by the Roscoe Jackson Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Illinois.

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  1. Gianluca Blois & Kenneth T. Christensen

    Present address: Aerospace & Mechanical Engineering, Civil & Environmental Engineering & Earth Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Gianluca Blois

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, USA

    Julio M. Barros

  3. Departments of Mechanical Science and Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Julio M. Barros & Kenneth T. Christensen

  4. International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I2CNER), Kyushu University, 744 Moto-oka, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan

    Kenneth T. Christensen

Authors
  1. Gianluca Blois
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Correspondence to Gianluca Blois.

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Blois, G., Barros, J.M. & Christensen, K.T. A microscopic particle image velocimetry method for studying the dynamics of immiscible liquid–liquid interactions in a porous micromodel. Microfluid Nanofluid 18, 1391–1406 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-014-1537-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-014-1537-1

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