Low-cost PMMA-based microfluidics for the visualization of enhanced oil recovery

Yiqiang Fan , Kexin Gao , Jie Chen , Wengang Li , Yajun Zhang (1)

1 Dalian University of Technology

About one-third of the crude oil is trapped inside the pores of the carbonate and sandstone after the primary and secondary oil recovery, various methods have been used for the flooding of the trapped crude oil. Due to the opaque nature of the sandstone and shale, the visualization of the fluid flow inside the porous structure conventionally involved the use of very sophisticated equipment like X-ray computed microtomography. In this approach, a low-cost method for the mimic of porous structure for the enhanced oil recovery is proposed using the polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)-based microfluidic devices with the laser ablated microstructures, where the microstructure is the replica of a real rock fracture. Since the PMMA is optically clear in the visible range, the detailed fluid flow inside the porous structure could be obtained for a better understanding of the liquid front propagation and rheology in the pore-scale. The effect of water flooding is also tested with the proposed microfluidic devices under various flooding rates for the demonstration of oil recovery enhancement with the proposed technology.

Domaines: Physique [physics]

Yiqiang Fan, Kexin Gao, Jie Chen, Wengang Li, Yajun Zhang. Low-cost PMMA-based microfluidics for the visualization of enhanced oil recovery. Oil & Gas Science and Technology - Revue d'IFP Energies nouvelles, 2018, 73, pp.26. ⟨10.2516/ogst/2018026⟩. ⟨hal-01855688⟩