Interface Dynamics During Two Phase Flow in Stratified Porous Medium

Abstract

Immiscible displacement of a non-wetting fluid by a wetting fluid is important for many fields for example, biomedical devices, paper micro-fluidics, oil reservoirs and water aquifers. In a multi-layered porous medium the displacement velocity and relative position of the layers with respect to each other is significant in determining the flow paths of the fluids. Earlier studies on two-layered porous medium indicate presence of different flow regimes in every layer depending upon the velocity. However, the effect of relative positioning of these layers in different flow regimes is still unknown. In the present work we experimentally show that at low velocity, a capillary regime is developed i.e. the wetting fluid front leads in the least permeable layer, while at high velocity the wetting fluid front leads in the highest permeability layer. At all flow rates, the least permeable layer is found to draw fluid from the high permeability layer due to capillary suction. We also show the effect of relative placement of the layers on the interphase dynamics.