Imaging of Single Phase Flow in Porous Media by High Resolution MRI

Abstract

This paper presents the single flow in porous media to investigate CO2 flow velocity in porous media.We used high resolution MRI to visualize the fluid flow distribution and measure axial mean velocity in porous media.In the experiment, the porous media sample was packed with glass beads, with a porosity of around 0.4. Based the traditional spin echo sequence, we modified the sequence with flow encoding gradients in the flow direction .The sample was saturated. The water flow rates were 1ml/min、2ml/min、3ml/min and 5ml/min,respectively. First, the sequence was calibrated by pipe flow without porous media. As expected, the experimental images show parabolic velocity distribution. The velocity in the centre is high. Then the sample was measured with the same sequence. The images show that the velocity distribution is homogeneous in the porous media. In the boundary of the sample, the velocities are low because of wall-effect. Moreover, the mean velocities calculated from MRI images agree with the real velocities.These errors between calculated velocities and real velocities are small. It may be reduced by changing the experiment conditions.MRI is a useful technology for measuring flow in porous media.