VIDEO MICROSCOPY OF MULTIPHASE FLOW IN A MODEL POROUS MEDIUM

A novel flow cell has been developed to study the mechanisms of steady state, cocurrent, multiphase flow through porous media on a microscopic level. It consists of a rectangular capillary tube packed with a bilayer of monodisperse glass beads 109 microns in diameter. The pore sizes in the model are of the order of magnitude of those in actual petroleum reservoirs. An enhanced video microscopy and digital image processing system was used to record and analyze the flow data. Several pre-equilibrated fluid systems covering a wide range of interfacial tensions were studied using a syringe pump capable of producing superficial velocities of 0.1 to 2,000 ft/day. With this combination the capillary number Ca was studied from 10$\sp{-7}$ to 1.0. Displacement experiments were performed to investigate the qualitative behavior of flow in the novel micromodel. Nonwetting oleic phase was trapped at low Ca $(