Lab-on-chip methodologies for the study of transport in porous media: energy applications

Abstract

We present a lab-on-chip approach to the study of multiphase transport in porous media. The applicability of microfluidics to biological and chemical analysis has motivated much development in lab-on-chip methodologies. Several of these methodologies are also well suited to the study of transport in porous media. We demonstrate the application of rapid prototyping of microfluidic networks with approximately 5000 channels, controllable wettability, and fluorescence-based analysis to the study of multiphase transport phenomena in porous media. The method is applied to measure the influence of wettability relative to network regularity, and to differentiate initial percolation patterns from active flow paths. Transport phenomena in porous media are of critical importance to many fields and particularly in many energy-related applications including liquid water transport in fuel cells, oil recovery, and CO(2) sequestration.

Protocol for Biofilm Streamer Formation in a Microfluidic Device with Micro-pillars

“…For example, different porous structures can be simulated by altering the geometrical parameters of the micro-pillar array. Even structures that mimic the random structure of real porous media can be fabricated on microfluidic platforms 18 . Moreover, several such channels can be implemented on a single device allowing for collection of significant pertinent data for accurate statistical analysis.…”

Waterflooding of Surfactant and Polymer Solutions in a Porous Media Micromodel

“…Our IMPES model will be adjusted by using closure expressions [78] for saturation curves that incorporate surface tension as it influences capillary pressure. We also aim to control the pore structure of our system through photolithography techniques [16,26] and perform microparticle image velocimetry measurements [29] to map streamline profiles that can be compared to expected flow distributions as calculated by finite element analysis [79]. The approach we have used here can be used to evaluate other enhanced oil recovery systems, including other types of polymers or surfactants [80], nanoparticles [81,82], and foams [83,84].…”

“…The slow rate of observation is a direct result of transport through the interconnected network of grains that make up the porous media [15]. Micromodels based on lab-on-a-chip platforms offer one possible approach to experimentally investigating multiphase processes in porous media micromodels at shorter time scales [16].…”

“…In this approach, an optically transparent flow cell is constructed with a uniform distribution of glass or quartz beads dispersed inside to act as the porous grain structure, and direct visualization of the flow is then performed using optical microscopy techniques [17,18]. Although advances in microfabrication technology allow for the manufacturing of complex pore structures [19], most micromodels used to study multiphase fluid flow through pore media have been done in rectangular pore bodies and throats [16,[20][21][22][23][24][25]. Computer-aided design of microchannels [26,27] can be used to mimic heterogeneous porous media structure.…”

Reservoir-on-a-Chip (ROC): A new paradigm in reservoir engineering

“…These experiments are limited to engineered porous media which often include random or orderly packed granular systems without having a realistic representation of pore connectivity. In a more recent effort, Berejnov et al 47 has represented the porous medium as a structured microfluidic network with prescribed geometries. In their experiments, they have performed investigations of fluid flow parameters and wettability in such networks, by tuning surface properties.…”