Abstract
This study reveals the pore-scale details of oil mobilisation and recovery from a carbonate rock upon injection of aqueous nanoparticle (NP) suspensions. X-ray computed micro-tomography (μCT), which is a non-destructive imaging technique, was used to acquire a dataset which includes: (i) 3D images of the sample collected at the end of fluid injection steps, and (ii) 2D radiogram series collected during fluid injections. The latter allows monitoring fluid flow dynamics at time resolutions down to a few seconds using a laboratory-based μCT scanner. By making this dataset publicly available we enable (i) new image reconstruction algorithms to be tested on large images, (ii) further development of image segmentation algorithms based on machine learning, and (iii) new models for multi-phase fluid displacements in porous media to be evaluated using images of a dynamic process in a naturally occurring and complex material. This dataset is comprehensive in that it offers a series of images that were captured before/during/and after the immiscible fluid injections.
Highlights
Background & SummaryMulti-phase fluid transport in porous media is of great significance for a wide range of applications, including environmental processes and oil/gas production
Direct imaging of multi-phase fluid flow processes within porous media using μCT has identified a number of key pore-scale displacement processes that control the flow in synthetic and natural porous media
For an example direct simulation of two-phase flow on a 2D porous media see Rabbani et al.[20]. Distinctive advantage of this dataset is that it captures the process of fluid displacement within a naturally occurring carbonate rock that has a heterogeneous porestructure. Sharing this dataset will assist moving towards modelling of fluid flow within more realistic porous media as opposed to idealised ones such as bead-pack systems
Summary
Multi-phase fluid transport in porous media is of great significance for a wide range of applications, including environmental processes and oil/gas production. Direct imaging of multi-phase fluid flow processes within porous media using μCT has identified a number of key pore-scale displacement processes that control the flow in synthetic and natural porous media. These include snap-off[12,13,14], Haines jumps[15], and droplet fragmentation[16]. Distinctive advantage of this dataset is that it captures the process of fluid displacement within a naturally occurring carbonate rock that has a heterogeneous porestructure Sharing this dataset will assist moving towards modelling of fluid flow within more realistic porous media as opposed to idealised ones such as bead-pack systems. In addition to evaluation of pore-scale models, these images can be used to aid the design of future experiments
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