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Imaging and Resistivity Studies of Saturation Gradients in Two-Phase Flow in 3-D Porous Media

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

E. H. Kawamoto  and
Po-Zen Wong
E. H. Kawamoto
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, U. S. A.
Po-Zen Wong
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, U. S. A.
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Abstract

We have carried out x-ray radiography and computed tomography (CT) to study two-phase flow in 3-D porous media. Air-brine displacement was imaged for drainage and imbibition experiments in a vertical column of glass beads. By correlating water saturation Sw with resistance R, we find that there is a threshold saturation S* ≈ 0.2, above which R(SW) ∼ Sw−2, in agreement with the empirical Archie relation. This holds true for both drainage and imbibition with littlehysteresis, provided that Sw remains above S*. Should Sw drop below S* during drainage, R(Sw) rises above the Archie prediction, exhibiting strong hysteresis upon reimbibition. This behavior suggests a transition in the connectivity of the water phase near S*, possibly due to percolation effects.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 464: Symposium FF – Dynamics in Small Confining Systems III , 1996 , 371
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1997

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References

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