HR: 16:00h
AN: H34A-01    [Abstracts]
TI: High-resolution Imaging of Multiphase Porous Media: Impact of Pore-scale Geometry and Topology and Fractional Wettability
AU: * Willson, C S
EM: cwillson@lsu.edu
AF: Louisiana State University, 3418D CEBA Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 United States
AU: Thompson, K E
EM: karsten@lsu.edu
AF: Louisiana State University, 320 Chemical Engineering Gordon A. and Mary Cain Department of Chemical Engineering, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 United States
AU: Ham, K
EM: kham1@lsu.edu
AF: Louisiana State University, Center for Advanced Microstructures and Devices 6980 Jefferson Hwy, Baton Rouge, LA 70806 United States
AB: In multiphase porous media systems, the distribution of immiscible fluids is strongly dependent on the pore-scale geometry and topology as well as the wettability characteristics of the media. Previous studies of multiphase systems have used either indirect methods or required destruction of the sample, thus eliminating the ability correlate fluid distribution and characteristics and the pore-scale properties. Synchrotron X-ray tomography can be used to nondestructively obtain high-resolution (on the order of 1-10 micron), three-dimensional images of multiphase porous media systems. A series of column experiments were conducted where nonwetting phase was entrapped at residual saturation. Grain size, media uniformity, and wettability properties were varied among the columns. These columns were imaged at the GeoSoilEnviroCARS tomography beamline at the Advanced Photon Source. Algorithms, developed by our group, were used to (1) obtain the physically-representative network structure of the void space including the pore body and throat distribution, coordination number, and aspect ratio; (2) characterize the entrapped fluid phase properties (e.g., volume, sphericity, orientation, surface area); and (3) correlate the porous media and fluid properties.
DE: 1829 Groundwater hydrology
DE: 1832 Groundwater transport
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting