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Wettability and Lenormand's diagram

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 August 2021

Bauyrzhan K. Primkulov Open the ORCID record for Bauyrzhan K. Primkulov [Opens in a new window] ,
Amir A. Pahlavan Open the ORCID record for Amir A. Pahlavan [Opens in a new window] ,
Xiaojing Fu Open the ORCID record for Xiaojing Fu [Opens in a new window] ,
Benzhong Zhao Open the ORCID record for Benzhong Zhao [Opens in a new window] ,
Christopher W. MacMinn Open the ORCID record for Christopher W. MacMinn [Opens in a new window]  and
Ruben Juanes Open the ORCID record for Ruben Juanes [Opens in a new window]
Bauyrzhan K. Primkulov
Affiliation:
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Amir A. Pahlavan
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Xiaojing Fu
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
Benzhong Zhao
Affiliation:
Department of Civil Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L7, Canada
Christopher W. MacMinn
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PJ, UK
Ruben Juanes*
Affiliation:
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: [email protected]
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Abstract

Fluid–fluid displacement in porous media has been viewed through the lens of Lenormand's phase diagram since the late 1980s. This diagram suggests that the character of the flow is controlled by two dimensionless parameters: the capillary number and the viscosity ratio. It is by now well known, however, that the wettability of the system plays a key role in determining the pore-scale displacement mechanisms and macroscopic invasion patterns. Here, we endow Lenormand's diagram with the impact of wettability using dynamic and quasi-static pore-network models. By using the fractal dimension and the ratio of characteristic viscous and capillary pressures we delineate the five principal displacement regimes within the extended phase diagram: stable displacement, viscous fingering, invasion percolation, cooperative pore filling and corner flow. We discuss the results in the context of pattern formation, displacement-front dynamics, pore-scale disorder and displacement efficiency.

JFM classification

Interfacial Flows (free surface): Capillary flows Interfacial Flows (free surface): Fingering instability Low-Reynolds-number flows: Porous media
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 923 , 25 September 2021 , A34
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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