Fast micro-computed tomography data of solute transport in porous media with different heterogeneity levels

Solute transport processes are influenced by pore-scale heterogeneity. To study this, transient micron-scale solute concentration fields were imaged by fast laboratory-based X-ray micro-computed tomography. We performed tracer injection experiments in three types of porous material with increasing levels of heterogeneity (sintered glass, Bentheimer sandstone and Savonnieres limestone). Different Peclet numbers were used during the experiments. For each sample and Peclet number, datasets of 40 to 74 3D images were acquired by continuous scanning with a voxel size of 13.4 to 14.6 mu m and a temporal resolution of 15 to 12seconds. To determine the measurement uncertainty on the obtained concentration fields, we performed calibration experiments under similar circumstances (temporal resolution of 12seconds and voxel size of 13.0 mu m). Here, we provide a systematic description of the data acquisition and processing and make all data, a total of 464 tomograms, publicly available. The combined dataset offers new opportunities to study the influence of pore-scale heterogeneity on solute transport, and to validate pore-scale simulations of this process in increasingly complex samples.

Automated summary

The study found that pore-scale heterogeneity influences solute transport processes. Using X-ray micro-computed tomography, experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of heterogeneity on different porous materials.