Flow of yield stress and <scp>C</scp>arreau fluids through rough‐walled rock fractures: Prediction and experiments

Castro, Antonio Rodríguez de; Radilla, Giovanni

doi:10.1002/2017wr020520

Cited by 27 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 123 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…An open circuit equipped with a dual piston pump was used for low rates between 0.12 and 6 L/h while the circuit was closed and equipped with a volumetric pump for the higher low rates ranging from 9 to 250 L/h. Further details of the equipment were provided by Rodríguez de Castro and Radilla (2017b). The yield stress luid was injected through the investigated media, performing four repetitions of each low experiment.…”

Section: Experimental Set-up and Procedures For The Yield Stress Fluid Porosimetry Methods Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of Non-toxic Yield Stress Fluids Porosimetry Method and Pore-Network Modelling to Characterize the Pore Size Distribution of Packs of Spherical Beads

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

With X-ray computed tomography still being lawed as a result of limitations in terms of spatial resolution and cost, toxic mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) is nowadays the prevailing technique to determine PSDs of most porous media. Recently, yield stress luids porosimetry method (YSM) has been identiied as a promising clean alternative to MIP. This technique is based on the particular percolation patterns followed by yield stress luids, which only low through certain pores when injected at a given pressure gradient. In previous works, YSM was used to characterize natural and synthetic porous media, and the results were compared with MIP showing reasonable agreement. However, considerable uncertainty still remains regarding the characterized pore dimension with each method arising from the highly complex geometry of the interstices in real porous media. Therefore, a critical stage for the validation of YSM consists in achieving successful characterization of model porous media with well-known pore morphology and topology. With this objective in mind, a set of four packs of glass beads each with a given monodisperse bead size were characterized in the present work using diferent porosimetry methods: experimental YSM, numerically simulation of MIP and pore-network extraction from a 3D image. The results provided by these techniques were compared, allowing the identiication of the pore dimensions being characterized in each case. The results of this research elucidate the causes of the discrepancies between the considered porosimetry methods and demonstrate the usefulness of the PSD provided by YSM when predicting low in porous media.

show abstract

Section: Experimental Set-up and Procedures For The Yield Stress Fluid Porosimetry Methods Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of Non-toxic Yield Stress Fluids Porosimetry Method and Pore-Network Modelling to Characterize the Pore Size Distribution of Packs of Spherical Beads

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Non-Newtonian flow in a fracture that is characterized by an isotropic, two-dimensional aperture variation is highly complex, as shown by, e.g., De Castro and Radilla [6], and the hydraulic aperture can be obtained only by means of numerical simulations. However, it can be argued [16] that the scheme with channels in parallel is an upper bound to the hydraulic aperture for the general 2-D case, while the scheme with channels in series provides a lower bound, in analogy with the well-known expressions for hydraulic conductivity [17].…”

Section: Flow In 2-d Isotropic Aperture Fieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When fluid behavior is non-Newtonian, the effects of spatial variability are compounded with the influence of rheology, producing striking results, such as pronounced channeling effects [5]. Different constitutive equations have been used to represent non-Newtonian behavior in fracture flow, ranging from the simpler two-parameter power-law model [5] to the four-parameter Carreau-Yasuda equation [6]. A comprehensive comparison of results for different constitutive equations is still lacking, but the impact of fluid rheology is likely to be significant in view of the diverse behavior of rheological equations in the vicinity of the zero-shear-rate limit [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shear-Thinning Fluid Flow in Variable-Aperture Channels

Lenci

Longo

Federico

2020

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Non-Newtonian fluid flow in a single fracture is a 3-D nonlinear phenomenon that is often averaged across the fracture aperture and described as 2-D. To capture the key interactions between fluid rheology and spatial heterogeneity, we adopt a simplified geometric model to describe the aperture variability, consisting of adjacent one-dimensional channels with constant aperture, each drawn from an assigned aperture distribution. The flow rate is then derived under the lubrication approximation for the two limiting cases of an external pressure gradient that is parallel/perpendicular to the channels; these two arrangements provide upper and lower bounds to the fracture conductance. The fluid rheology is described by the Prandtl–Eyring shear-thinning model. Novel closed-form results for the flow rate and hydraulic aperture are derived and discussed; different combinations of the parameters that describe the fluid rheology and the variability of the aperture field are considered. The flow rate values are very sensitive to the applied pressure gradient and to the shape of the distribution; in particular, more skewed distribution entails larger values of a dimensionless flow rate. Results for practical applications are compared with those valid for a power-law fluid and show the effects on the fracture flow rate of a shear stress plateau.

show abstract

“…Experimental works dealing with the injection of yield stress fluids in rough-walled fractures are scarce ( Rodríguez de Castro and Radilla, 2017 ;Shojaei et al, 2019 ). Rodríguez de Castro and Radilla (2017) conducted a set of laboratory experiments in which a concentrated polymer solution exhibiting a yield stress was injected through two transparent epoxy resin replicas of a granite fracture and a Vosges sandstone fracture.…”

Section: Investigated Mediamentioning

confidence: 99%

Determination of the aperture distribution of rough-walled rock fractures with the non-toxic Yield Stress fluids porosimetry method

Castro

Ahmadi-Sénichault

Omari

2020

Advances in Water Resources

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Fractures in geological formations constitute high-conductivity conduits which potentially act as preferential paths during fluid injection in soil remediation and reservoir engineering operations. Recently, the measurement of the pressure drop under different flow rates during the flow of yield stress fluids in porous media has been proposed as the basis for an environmentally friendly method to characterize the Pore Size Distribution. However, the Yield Stress fluids porosimetry Method (YSM) has still not been extended to the characterization of the hydraulic aperture distribution of rough-walled rock fractures. The potential interest of such an extension is intense, considering that the distinct characteristics of rock fractures vs the matrix represent a burden to other traditional porosimetry techniques. In the particular case of X-ray microtomography, time-consuming calibration is often needed, and serious difficulties arise due to beam hardening and reconstruction artifacts. The specific objective of the present investigation is to adapt YSM to the characterization of rough-walled rock fractures. For this purpose, the results of laboratory experiments in which a yield stress fluid was injected through two natural rock fractures were exploited, and the YSM model and algorithm was adapted to the particular topological and geometrical features of flows in fractures. Moreover, numerical experiments were performed at the scale of a single 2D channel with variable aperture to identify the dimension characterized by YSM and decipher the yielding behaviour of the fluids. The present findings show that YSM can be successfully used to characterize the distribution of hydraulic apertures of the flow channels in rough-walled rock fractures. Furthermore, the numerical results revealed that the plug of stagnant fluid is located in the central part of these flow channels and breaks close to the constrictions, forming islands of unyielded fluid.

show abstract

Flow of yield stress and Carreau fluids through rough‐walled rock fractures: Prediction and experiments

Cited by 27 publications

References 123 publications

Application of Non-toxic Yield Stress Fluids Porosimetry Method and Pore-Network Modelling to Characterize the Pore Size Distribution of Packs of Spherical Beads

Application of Non-toxic Yield Stress Fluids Porosimetry Method and Pore-Network Modelling to Characterize the Pore Size Distribution of Packs of Spherical Beads

Shear-Thinning Fluid Flow in Variable-Aperture Channels

Determination of the aperture distribution of rough-walled rock fractures with the non-toxic Yield Stress fluids porosimetry method

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About