Journal
FRONTIERS IN PHYSICS
Volume 10, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
FRONTIERS MEDIA SA
DOI: 10.3389/fphy.2022.936915
Keywords
porous media; multiphase flow; percolation; optical scanner; refractive index matching; viscosity stabilized; critical radius; fluctuation number
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Funding
- Research Council of Norway through its Centre of Excellence [262644]
- Research Council of Norway [324555]
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In this study, the transition from steady high viscosity flow to unstable finger-like flow under gravitational effects in a cubic container filled with synthetic porous medium is investigated. A newly developed 3D scanner is used to observe and analyze the flow behavior.
We present experiments and theory describing the transition from viscosity-stabilized flow to gravitationally unstable fingering for two-phase flow in a cubic box, filled with a synthetic porous medium. Observation is made possible by the use of our newly developed table-top 3D scanner based on optical index matching and laser-induced fluorescence, which is described in detail. In the experiment, a more dense, more viscous fluid injected at a fixed flow rate from a point source at the top of the flow cell displaces a less viscous, less dense fluid. We observe a stable invasion zone near the inlet, which increases in size with increasing flow rates, and presents initially a close to hemispherical shape. At later times, the invasion front transits to an unstable mode and a fingering flow regime. The transition occurs at a predicted critical radius, R-c, corresponding to the zero of the combined viscous and gravitational pressure gradient.
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