Experimental and Analytical Investigation of an Immiscible Displacement Process in Real Structure Micromodels

Christian Truitt Lüddeke (), Calvin Lumban Gaol, Gion Joel Strobel and Leonhard Ganzer
Additional contact information
Christian Truitt Lüddeke: Institute of Subsurface Energy Systems, Clausthal University of Technology, 38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
Calvin Lumban Gaol: Institute of Subsurface Energy Systems, Clausthal University of Technology, 38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
Gion Joel Strobel: Institute of Subsurface Energy Systems, Clausthal University of Technology, 38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany
Leonhard Ganzer: Institute of Subsurface Energy Systems, Clausthal University of Technology, 38678 Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Germany

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 18, 1-20

Abstract: The recovery of oil from a reservoir can be accomplished with various methods, one of the most commonly applied types being waterflooding. A common theory used to describe immiscible displacement is the Buckley–Leverett theory. A brand new type of micromodel, generated and fabricated by using a micro-computer tomography ( μ CT) image stack of a real sandstone core, was used to conduct immiscible displacement experiments. Critical logging data were recorded, and a high-resolution camera took pictures of the displacement process. In an image processing tool (MATLAB), an algorithm was developed to evaluate the pictures of the experiment and to examine the changes in the saturations of the displacing and the displaced fluid. The main objective of the displacement experiment was to validate the new microchip in two-phase displacement experiments and to assess the feasibility of the image processing algorithm. This was performed by comparing the results of the experimental to the analytical solutions, which were derived from the Buckley–Leverett theory. The comparison of the results showed a good match between the two types of solutions. The applicability of the analytical results to the experimental procedures was observed. Additionally, the usage of the newly fabricated micromodel and its potential to visualize the fluid flow behavior in porous media were assessed.

Keywords: microfluidic devices; immiscible displacement; waterflooding; Buckley–Leverett (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/18/6741/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/18/6741/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:18:p:6741-:d:915580

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().