Detection of moving capillary front in porous rocks using X-ray and ultrasonic methods

Frontiers in Physics

Dautriat, Jrmie¹  Sarout, Jol¹  Nabawy, Bassem²  Menndez, Beatriz³  David, Christian³  Bertauld, Delphine³ 

[1] CSIRO, Earth Science and Resources Engineering, 26 Dick Perry Avenue, Kensington, WA 6151, Australia;National Research Center, Department of Geophysical Sciences, Cairo, Egypt;University Cergy-Pontoise, Department of Geosciences and Environment, 5 mail Gay-Lussac, Cergy-Pontoise, F-95031, France

关键词: capillary imbibition;    X-ray CT scanning;    Ultrasonic monitoring;    Sandstones;    Carbonates;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fphy.2015.00053

学科分类：物理（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Several methods are compared for the detection of moving capillary fronts in spontaneous imbibition experiments where water invades dry porous rocks. These methods are: (i) the continuous monitoring of the mass increase during imbibition, (ii) the imaging of the water front motion using X-ray CT scanning, (iii) the use of ultrasonic measurements allowing the detection of velocity, amplitude and spectral content of the propagating elastic waves, and (iv) the combined use of X-ray CT scanning and ultrasonic monitoring. It is shown that the properties of capillary fronts depend on the heterogeneity of the rocks, and that the information derived from each method on the dynamics of capillary motion can be significantly different. One important result from the direct comparison of the moving capillary front position and the P wave attributes is that the wave amplitude is strongly impacted before the capillary front reaches the sensors, in contrast with the velocity change which is concomitant with the fluid front arrival in the sensors plane.

【 授权许可】

CC BY