Pore-3Phase: Pore-scale investigation of three-phase fluid transport in porous rocks – A time-resolved 3-dimensional study using X-ray computed micro-tomography technique

Multiphase fluid transport in porous media is of significance in energy and environmental science and technology, in particular in remediation of groundwater contaminants, subsurface CO2 storage, and enhanced oil recovery.
Advances in X-ray computed micro-tomography (X-ray μCT), which is a non-destructive 3D imaging technique, have enabled us for the first time, to see not only the details of the internal structure of rocks, but also processes that occur inside rocks during experimental studies.

Pore-scale imaging studies have mostly focused on homogeneous porous material such as bead packs and sandstones. However, complex carbonate formations are important because they host over 50% of the world’s hydrocarbon reserves and are aquifers supplying water to one quarter of the global population. In this project we studied pore-scale mechanisms controlling multiphase fluid flow in carbonates.

The study was an international collaboration between Teesside University,
University of Edinburgh and Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil) and the Brazilian Synchrotron.

The project involved extensive knowledge and skill transfer on the subject of technical development of experimental and data processing techniques.

Our results were published in Nature-Scientific Reports and Nature-Scientific Data journals.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-29569-2
https://www.nature.com/articles/sdata20194