During spontaneous imbibition, a wetting liquid is drawn into a porous medium by capillary forces. In systems with comparable pore length and diameter, such as paper and sand, the front of the propagating liquid forms a continuous interface. Sections of this interface advance in a highly correlated manner due to an effective surface tension, which restricts front broadening. Here we investigate...

We study the effect of weak vibrations on the imbibition of water in granular media. In our experiments, we have observed that as soon as the vibration is applied, an initially pinned wetting front advances in the direction of imbibition. We found that the front motion is governed by the avalanches of localized intermittent advances directed at 45° to the imbibition direction. When the rescaled...

The fluid distribution as a function of height in transition zones is often very complex. This may be due to movement of water-oil contact, tilting of the reservoir at some point in time, leak of fluid out of the reservoir zone or complex inflow during secondary migration. The resultant fluid distribution seen in saturation logs may be difficult to model. In this paper we address the changes in...

Bubble diameter measurements in a two-dimensional cocurrent bubble column are obtained using a gas−liquid−solid system in which the solid component is a cellulose fiber. Flash X-ray radiography, a noninvasive measurement technique, is used to record bubble size in the opaque slurry at various operating conditions. Results are presented for a range of fiber mass fractions (0 ≤ C ≤ 1.5%), a range...

We present a numerical study on the dynamics of imbibition fronts in porous media using a pipe network model. This model quantitatively reproduces the anomalous scaling behavior found in imbibition experiments [Phys. Rev. E 52, 5166 (1995)]. Using simple scaling arguments, we derive a new identity among the scaling exponents in agreement with the experimental results.

Oil recovery by waterflooding in fractured formations is often dependent on spontaneous imbibition. However, spontaneous imbibition is often insignificant in oil-wet, carbonate rocks. Sodium carbonate and anionic surfactant solutions are evaluated for enhancing oil recovery by spontaneous imbibition from oil-wet carbonate rocks. Crude-oil samples must be free of surface-active contaminants to b...

Steam-water flow exists in most geothermal reservoirs where steam-water capillary pressure plays an important role in controlling fluid distribution, transfer of liquid between fracture and matrix, well productivity, and even the reserves. However, it is very difficult to measure steam-water capillary pressure due to the phase transformation and the significant mass transfer between the two pha...

Imbibition is one of the key phenomena underlying processes such as oil recovery and others. In this paper, the influence of nanoparticles on spontaneous water imbibition into ultraconfined channels is investigated by molecular dynamics simulation. By combining the dynamic process of imbibition, the water contact angle in the capillary and the relationship of displacement (l) and time (t), a co...

Tests of the Saarberg-Halter Umwelttechnik GmbH (S-H-U) flue gas desulfurization (FGD) process were performed November 12-20, 1998. while burning the design coal at the NYSEG Milliken Station Unit No. 1. The objectives of the test program using the design coal were to demonstrate the effect of cocurrent and countercurrent liquid-to-gas ratio on SO, removal and scrubber operability. Measurements...