Wetting transition and fluid trapping in a microfluidic fracture
Name
Qiu_yuqiu_SM_CEE_2021_thesis.pdf
Description
Thesis PDF
Size
37.58 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
90516e07404d842fd96671178abf3a7b
Author(s)
Qiu, Yu
Advisor(s)
Juanes, Ruben
Date Issued
June 2021
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
During immiscible fluid-fluid displacement in partial wetting regime, defending fluid is often trapped as a liquid film on solid surfaces through the mechanism of wetting transition. Here, we study the impact of roughness on wetting transition and fluid trapping in a microfluidic fracture. We demonstrate that roughness significantly reduces the capillary number threshold that onsets the wetting transition, even to a vanishing value. Above the reduced threshold, fluid is trapped in two configurations: (1) below the roughness amplitude as a thin film; (2) enveloping the rough surface as a thick film. We further show that the thin film may either remain stable or dewet as a film of uniform thickness, which is distinct from the classic viscous dewetting on smooth surface. We delineate three displacement regimes: complete displacement, thin film and thick film, in a phase diagram with theoretical criteria that govern the crossovers among them. Different displacement regime leads to distinct morphology of residual fluid at late times, which eventually determines hydrodynamics and geochemical reaction in subsurface environment.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
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