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Invited Review | Open Access

X-ray micro-computed imaging of wettability characterization for multiphase flow in porous media: A review

Key Laboratory of Theory and Technology of Petroleum Exploration and Development in Hubei Province, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China
Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Education, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, P. R. China
School of Minerals & Energy Resources Engineering, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW 2052, Australia
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Abstract

With the advent of X-ray micro-computed tomography which is now routinely used, pore-scale fluid transport and processes can be observed in three-dimensional (3D) at the micro-scale. Multiphase flow experiments that are conducted under i⁢n⁢s⁢i⁢t⁢u imaging scanning conditions can be utilized to study the pore-scale physics relevant to subsurface technological applications. X-ray micro-tomographic imaging is a non-destructive technique for quantifying these processes in 3D within confined pores. This paper presents a review for the usage of X-ray micro-computed tomography experiments to investigate wettability effect on multiphase flow. The fundamental workflow of combining experiments with pore-scale i⁢n⁢s⁢i⁢t⁢u imaging scanning such as equipment requirements, apparatus design and fluid systems are firstly described. Then imaging analysis toolkit is presented for how to quantify interfacial areas, curvatures, contact angles, and fluid properties through these images. Furthermore, we show typical examples, illustrating recent studies for the wettability characterization by using X-ray micro-computed imaging.

Keywords

contact angleWettabilitymultiphase flowX-ray microcomputed imagingpore-scale physics

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Capillarity
Volume 3 Issue 3,
September 2020
Pages 36-44
DOI: 10.46690/capi.2020.03.01
Cite this article:
Zou S, Sun C. X-ray micro-computed imaging of wettability characterization for multiphase flow in porous media: A review. Capillarity, 2020, 3(3): 36-44. https://doi.org/10.46690/capi.2020.03.01

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Received: 07 August 2020
Revised: 25 August 2020
Accepted: 25 August 2020
Published: 29 August 2020
© The Author(s) 2020

This article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND) license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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