EFFECTS OF CORNER-BRIDGE FLOW ON CAPILLARY PRESSURE-SATURATION CURVE IN POROUS MEDIA
DOI:
Author:
Affiliation:

State Key Laboratory of Water Resources Engineering and Management

Clc Number:

TU375.4

Fund Project:

  • Article
  • |
  • Figures
  • |
  • Metrics
  • |
  • Reference
  • |
  • Related
  • |
  • Cited by
  • |
  • Materials
  • |
  • Comments
    Abstract:

    The capillary pressure-saturation curve is the basis for predicting multiphase flow in porous media. As the saturation of the wetting phase decreases, flow through the meniscus and liquid bridges becomes the main mechanism for displacement. However, the understanding of how meniscus and liquid bridges control the capillary pressure-saturation curve is still limited. In this study, we constructed a microfluidic visualization experimental platform and conducted quasi-static drainage experiments in six different microfluidic systems with varying pore structures and roughness. Through the experiments, the phenomena of meniscus-liquid bridge were observed and the influence of this phenomenon on the capillary pressure curve was quantified. The experimental results show that the meniscus-liquid bridge phenomenon mainly occurs at lower saturations and leads to a reduction in the residual saturation of the wetting phase by 0.21 to 0.32. The occurrence of the meniscus-liquid bridge phenomenon is closely related to the wettability of the porous media, where rough solid surfaces decrease the contact angle of the wetting phase, making the meniscus-liquid bridge phenomenon more likely to occur. The impact of the meniscus-liquid bridge is positively correlated with the number of liquid bridges, and as the porosity and heterogeneity decrease, the meniscus-liquid bridge phenomenon becomes more significant. This study reveals the influence of the pore-scale meniscus-liquid bridge phenomenon on the capillary pressure-saturation curve, which is of significant importance for predicting multiphase flow.

    Reference
    Related
    Cited by
Get Citation
Share
Article Metrics
  • Abstract:
  • PDF:
  • HTML:
  • Cited by:
History
  • Received:August 13,2023
  • Revised:August 27,2023
  • Adopted:September 12,2023
  • Online:
  • Published:
Article QR Code