1. Physics of Oil Break-up in Natural Porous Channels
Igor Beresnev, Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences, Iowa State University
Disintegration of continuous streams of oil into isolated droplets in tortuous porous channels is common in nature. As a result, oil resides in form of tiny droplets that are severely restrained in their mobility by capillary forces. Such oil is difficult to extract by producing wells. The physics of oil break-up has not been well understood. Its clarification helps describing the physical state of oil in underground reservoirs. This project has dealt with such a clarification, developing a quantitative model that fully quantifies the break-up process and successfully explains how the geometry of the pores controls it.
Computational-fluid-dynamics experiment
Analytical model of oil/water interface break-up