Immiscible Two-Phase Fluid Flow
1. Feasible to capture both fingering (where, the displacement front exhibits a branching and relatively dispersed morphology) and ‘stable displacement’ (observed, when a high viscosity fluid displaces a low viscosity fluid @ a higher velocity) @ laboratory-scale using experiments, associated with the displacement patterns in drainage processes?
How exactly to capture the morphological characteristics of the invading front (including compact/dentritic branching structures)?
2. In the context of drainage dynamics transitioning from capillary to viscous fingering, to what extent, will there be a difference or gap between ‘observed laboratory-scale experiments’ and that with a ‘virtual real-field scenario’?
(a) The competition between the lateral and longitudinal evolution of the displacement front;
(b) The real-time changes in the fluid topological structure; and
(c) The inlet-outlet pressure difference.
3. Albeit, increasing the viscosity of the displacing phase with polymers have shown to increase the amount of fluid removed, doesn’t it account to a relatively complex non-Newtonian fluid flow?
If so, then, how exactly to capture the thin film of the displaced phase on the channel wall - left by viscous fingering (when the displaced phase has a higher density or viscosity compared to the displacing phases; and leading to unstable flow), which significantly reduces the displacement efficiency of the reservoir?
Feasible to capture the ‘formation of interfacial waves’ – following the initial viscous finger, where, the interface between the two-phases gets destabilized (the displacement flow resembles an annular flow, with the core fluid representing the displacing phase and the fluid in the annulus representing the displaced phase)?
Whether the source of instability would remain to be sufficient enough – to be produced @ laboratory-scale using experiments - in order to generate a velocity gradient between the two sides of the interface, associated with the differences in viscosity and density of the two phases?
At the laboratory-scale, if the annular flow has a negative perturbation growth rate, then, the system would still remain to be stable to disturbances?
Also, if the growth rate of perturbation remains to be positive @ laboratory-scale, then, any small disturbances introduced into the system would still grow in interfacial waves?
4. For the case of viscoelastic displaced phase, whether, the viscoelastic forces would tend to increase the amount of liquid left on the wall; and would eventually, tend to lower the displacement efficiency?
5. How exactly to capture the instabilities associated with the application of viscoelastic fluids, where, the instabilities become periodic with an enhanced amplitudes?
Whether both the frequency and the velocity of the instability waves be increased upon enhancing the displacement flow rates?
6. Does pore-scale displacement efficiency require a detailed investigation on the flow fields during the interfacial instability?
Whether measurement of the velocity fields, captured using PTV or PIV - close to the interfacial instability in both phases will be able to reveal the presence of any non-uniform structures in the fluid flow?
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