Miscible viscous fingering involving viscosity changes of the displacing fluid by chemical reactions

Abstract

In our previous study, we experimentally studied the effects of changes in the viscosity of the displaced more-viscous liquid by instantaneous reactions on miscible viscous fingering pattern [Y. Nagatsu, K. Matsuda, Y. Kato, and Y. Tada, “Experimental study on miscible viscous fingering involving viscosity changes induced by variations in chemical species concentrations due to chemical reactions,” J. Fluid Mech. 571, 475 (2007)]. In the present study, experiments have been performed on the miscible viscous fingering involving changes in the viscosity of the displacing less-viscous liquid by instantaneous reactions in a radial Hele-Shaw cell. We have found that the shielding effect is suppressed and the fingers are widened when the viscosity is increased. As a result, the reaction makes the fingering pattern denser. In contrast, the shielding effect is enhanced, and the fingers are narrowed when the viscosity is decreased. As a result, the reaction makes the fingering pattern less dense. These results are essentially same as those obtained by the above-mentioned previous study. This shows that the effects of changes in the viscosity due to the instantaneous reactions are independent of whether the changes occur in the displaced liquid or in the displacing liquid. A mechanism for the independence is discussed.