interpore-pmpm · 3. institute of petroleum engineering, heriot-watt university, 4. international...

Interpore-PMPM UK Chapter Kick-off Meeting, August 25th 2015

1

InterPore-PMPM

UK Chapter Kick-off Meeting

August 25th 2015 University of Manchester

Room F1, Renold Building, Altrincham Street, Manchester M1 7JA

Organizer: Vahid J Niasar ([email protected])


2


3

About InterPore https://www.interpore.org

The International Society for Porous Media (InterPore) is a non-profit-making

independent scientific organization established in 2008. It aims to advance and

disseminate knowledge for the understanding, description, and modeling of

natural and industrial porous media systems.

Porous media are encountered in many natural and industrial systems, such as soils, aquifers, oil and gas

reservoirs, biological tissues and plants, but also fuel cells, concrete, textiles, polymer composites, and in-

tissue drug delivery, to name but a few.

Many of these porous systems are extremely complex. The traditional concepts, models, and algorithms

developed for porous media in the geosciences are not directly applicable and there is a very strong need

for tailored models, and measurement techniques.

InterPore acts as a platform for researchers active in modeling flow and transport in such complex porous

media. InterPore aims to provide an environment in which researchers in the various industrial and

natural systems mentioned above can be made aware of each other's activities and exchange ideas so

that the wheel does not have to be reinvented repeatedly.

About Porous Media - Processes and Mathematics (PMPM) http://www.pmpm.org.uk/

We are a UK wide research network focused on all aspects of porous

media flow at the interface between engineering, applied mathematics, applied probability and scientific

computing.

Our objectives:

Provide UK researchers, from both academia and industry, with a platform for novel scientific

interactions.

Create a flexible and active UK research community that can respond to large-scale societal and

environmental challenges (e.g., Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Fukushima nuclear disaster, induced seismicity

during geothermal exploration and shale gas drilling) and specific international calls.

The network is supported by the Engineering and Physical Science Research Council(EPSRC).

https://www.interpore.org/about-interpore

http://www.pmpm.org.uk/

http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/


4

Programme

9:15 9:25 Reception

9:25 9:30 opening

9:30 10:05 Keynote Speaker: Prof. dr. Oleg Iliev (Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Mathematics ITWM)

TBA

10:05 10:25 Dr. Cathy Hollis (University of Manchester) Pore systems in carbonate rocks

10:25 10:45 Dr. Matteo Icardi (University of Warwick ) On the predictivity of pore-scale simulations

10:45 11:05 Dr. Tannaz Pak (Teesside University) Pore-scale investigation of fluid transport in heterogeneous carbonate media using X-ray computed micro-tomography and pore-network modelling techniques

11:05 11:20 Break

11:20 11:40 Dr. Vahid J Niasar (University of Manchester) Multi-process pore-scale modelling

11:40 12:00 Dr. Diganta Das (Loughborough University) Permeability enhancement for transdermal delivery of large molecule using low frequency sonophoresis combined with microneedles

12:00 12:20 Dr. Majid Sedighi (University of Manchester) Microstructure and porosity evolution in compacted swelling clays

12:20 12:50

microTalks: U. Santisukkasaem (Loughborough University) TzuChieh Chao (Loughborough University) Shuai Wang (Loughborough University) Salim Goudarzi (Durham University) Kazeem Rabiu (Loughborough University) Jack S. Hardwick(Durham University)

-Predicting Permeability Losses in Zero-valent Iron Permeable Reactive Barrier for Remediation of Contaminated Groundwater; U. Santisukkasaem -Spreading of blood over porous substrate: Dried blood spots sampling TzuChieh Chao -Estimating glucose diffusivities in electrospun fibers using diffusion cell experiments and image processing; Shuai Wang -Numerical simulation of Enhanced Gas Recovery (EGR) by CO2 injection into very low-pressure partially-depleted gas reservoirs; Salim Goudarzi -Geo-electrical Characterisation in the Context of Geological Carbon Sequestration; Kazeem Rabiu -Simulating hydrate migration in shallow marine sediments; J. S. Hardwick 12:50 14:00 Lunch

14:00 14:50 InterPore Steering Comittee Introducing the committee, highlighting the mission of InterPore UK Chapter, Discussion on how to improve collaboration between industry and academia

14:50 15:10 Dr. Nima Shokri (University of Manchester) Dynamics of evaporation from porous media

15:10 15:30 Dr. Florian Doster (Heriot-Watt University) Multi-scale multi-physics modelling of flow phenomena in porous media.


5

15:30 15:45 Break

15:45 16:05 Dr. Zhou Yingfang (Imperial College London) Quantify the viscous crossflow and its effects on tertiary polymer flooding process in heterogeneity reservoirs

16:05 16:25 Dr. Ahmed ElSheikh (Heriot-Watt University) Uncertainty quantification in subsurface reservoirs

16:25 16:45 Dr. Yu Wang (University of Salford) The heat transfer performance of geothermal heat exchangers under the situation of groundwater seepage

16:45 16:55 Closing


6

List of Registered Attendees

First name Surname Affiliation Email

Masoud Babaei University of Manchester [email protected]

Mina Bergstad University of Manchester [email protected]

TzuChieh Chao Loughborough University

[email protected]

Diganta Das Loughborough University

[email protected]

Florian Doster Heriot-Watt University [email protected]

Ahmed ElSheikh Heriot-Watt University [email protected]

Salim Goudarzi Durham University [email protected]

Jack Hardwick Durham University [email protected]

Matthias Heil University of Manchester [email protected]

Cathy Hollis University of Manchester [email protected]

Matteo Icardi University of Warwick [email protected]

Oleg Iliev ITWM [email protected]

Oliver Jensen University of Manchester [email protected]

Andrey Jivkov University of Manchester [email protected]

Vahid Joekar Niasar University of Manchester [email protected]

Wissem Kallel Heriot-Watt University [email protected]

Mohaddeseh Mousavi-Nezhad

University of Warwick [email protected]

Bugus Muljadi Imperial College London [email protected]

Abdulkadir Osman University of Manchester [email protected]

Tannaz Pak Teesside University [email protected]

Kazeem Rabiou Loughborough University

[email protected]

Umarat Santisukkasaem Loughborough University

[email protected]

Andy Sederman University of Cambridge [email protected]

Majid Sedighi University of Manchester [email protected]

Nima Shokri University of Manchester [email protected]

Rink van Dijke Heriot-Watt University [email protected]

Shuai Wang Loughborough University

[email protected]

Yu Wang University of Salford [email protected]

Yingfang Zhou Imperial College London [email protected]


7

Abstracts


8

Pore systems in carbonate rocks

Cathy Hollis, Nathaly Lopez-Archilha and Mike Lacey

School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Manchester,

UK

One of the principal challenges in carbonate petroleum geology is characterisation of pore

networks. Carbonate rocks are mineralogically simple, usually comprising limestone (CaCO3) or

dolomite (Ca.MgCO3), but their biogeochemical origin and high reactivity creates heterogeneous,

multiscale pore networks. This means that standard petrophysical models of permeability and

saturation calculation cannot be easily applied. There have been many attempts to classify

porosity in carbonate rocks, but only recently has there been any attempt to link the style in which

carbonate rocks are deposited, and their post-depositional alteration, to pore shape, size and

geometry. Furthermore, studies of the impact of the resultant pore topology on hydrocarbon

recovery are in their infancy.

Over the last five years, pore shape, size and connectivity of carbonate pore networks has been

qualitatively and quantitatively described at University of Manchester. Datasets are multiscale,

and include 2D and 3D data collected by image analysis of thin sections and X-ray CT images.

The long-term objective of the work is to determine whether pore geometry can be predicted from

a suite of known or likely geological processes. Collaborative research programmes will then

focus on the impact of that pore topology on hydrocarbon recovery, with an emphasis on

understanding the relationship between pore shape and pore/pore throat ratios on hydrocarbon

trapping and by-passing.

This presentation will focus on early results of this work. A suite of carbonate rock types, and

their extracted pore networks will be presented and the impact on permeability and acoustic

velocity considered. Results indicate that prediction of velocity from porosity is improved where

there is knowledge of total porosity, pore size, specific surface area and pore shape complexity.

This has implications to the prediction of porosity from seismic datasets. For permeability

calculation, knowledge of co-ordination number, tortuosity and aspect ratio improve confidence in

permeability calculated from porosity data. These results support previous modelling studies1 and

emphasise the importance of reliable quantification of pore and pore throat size, shape and

connectivity.

1) Jivkov, A., Hollis, C., Etiese, F., McDonald, S and Withers, P., 2013. A novel architecture

for pore network modeling with applications to permeability of porous media. Journal of

Hydrology, 486, 246-258.


9

On the predictivity of pore-scale simulations

Matteo Icardi

Mathematics Institute, University of Warwick

Gianluca Boccardo

Politecnico di Torino, Italy

Raul Tempone

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia

Multilevel Monte Carlo (MLMC) is an efficient and flexible solution for the propagation

of uncertainties in complex models, where an explicit parametrization of the input randomness

is not available or too expensive. We propose a general-purpose algorithm and computational

code for the solution of Partial Differential Equations (PDEs) on random geometries and

with random parameters. This tool can be used to assess the predictivity of pore-scale

simulations, by studying the sensitivity with respect to sample size, numerical and physical

parameters. We make use of the key idea of MLMC, based on different discretization

levels, extending it in a more general context, with hierarchies of physical resolution scales,

solvers, models and other numerical/geometrical discretization parameters. Modifications of

the classical MLMC estimators are proposed to further reduce variance in cases where

analytical convergence rates and asymptotic regimes are not available. Spheres, ellipsoids and

general convex-shaped grains are placed randomly in the domain with different

placing/packing algorithms and the effective properties of the heterogeneous medium are

computed. These are, for example, effective diffusivities, conductivities, and reaction rates.

The implementation of the Monte-Carlo estimators, the statistical samples and each single

solver is done in parallel with a mixed parallelization approach. We present several applications

of our MLMC algorithm for flow, transport and diffusion in random heterogeneous materials.

The absolute permeability and effective diffusivity (or formation factor) of micro-scale porous

media samples are computed and the uncertainty related to the sampling procedures is

studied. The algorithm is then extended to the transport problems and multiphase flows for the

estimation of dispersion and relative permeability curves. Finally the statistical estimation of

new drag correlation laws for poly-dispersed dilute and dense suspensions is presented.


10

Pore-scale investigation of fluid transport in heterogeneous carbonate media

using X-ray computed micro-tomography and pore-network modelling

techniques Tannaz Pak1,4, Ian B. Butler2,4, Sebastian Geiger3,4, Rink van Dijke3,4, Zeyun Jiang3,4, Ken S. Sorbie3

1. Currently at School of Science and Engineering, Teesside University,

2. School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh,

3. Institute of Petroleum Engineering, Heriot-Watt University,

4. International Centre for Carbonate Reservoirs,

Carbonate formations are of particular global importance considering they contain about 50% of

the world’s hydrocarbon reserves, as well as a major portion of the world’s groundwater

resources. Understanding, quantifying and modelling of multi-phase fluid flow processes in

porous media has implications in a number of applications including the remediation of non-

aqueous phase liquid contaminants in groundwater aquifers, subsurface CO2 storage, and

enhanced oil recovery.

2D micro-model experiments were traditionally used to observe and analyse the fluid

displacement processes in porous media. Based on observations of such idealised structures, 3D

pore-network flow models were developed. The primary assumption of such 3D pore-network

simulations was that the displacement processes that have been observed in idealised 2D

capillaries also occur in complex 3D pore geometries which are common in real reservoir rocks.

Advances in X-ray computed micro-tomography (μCT) technique enabled 4D imaging (time-

resolved 3D imaging) and confirmed the occurrence of some of these pore-scale mechanisms

(such as snap-off, and pore body filling events) in 3D [Berg et al. 2013]. However, available pore-

scale imaging studies have mostly focused on more homogeneous porous material such as bead

packs, sand packs, and sandstones due to technical difficulties involved in working with

heterogeneous samples, for instance in order to work with a representative elementary volume of a

heterogeneous rock larger samples are required, which is a drawback for achieving high

resolutions on μCT images. We performed a series of two-phase (oil-brine) core flooding

experiments conducted on a carbonate (dolomite) core and monitored the flow at pore-scale.

Specifically we looked at the structure of the non-wetting phase trapped under different flow

regimes. We observed a new pore-scale mechanism, termed “droplet fragmentation” that

occurred during a viscous-dominated imbibition process. Previously trapped non-wetting phase

droplets were partly recovered by being fragmented into hundreds of smaller droplets, some of

which remained trapped in the pore space of the rock, whereas many others were produced to

accommodate more of the invading brine phase. The experimental data suggests that droplet

fragmentation may provide an explanation for the capillary desaturation at high capillary numbers

in porous media with heterogeneous and multiple-scale pore-size distributions.

On the modelling side we investigate the possibility of generating multi-scale pore-network

models to represent multi-scale porosity systems by integrating pore-network models extracted

from μCT images acquired at different length scales [Jiang et al. 2013]. We use mercury injection

capillary pressure laboratory measurements to evaluate the single and and multi-scale network

models of carbonate samples. Our results show the integrated networks are improved

representations of the complex and multi-scale pore system of the carbonates under study.


11

Multi-Process Pore-Scale Modelling

Vahid Joekar-Niasar

Integrated Multiscale Porous media Research (IMPRES)

School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, University of Manchester, UK

Continuum-scale theories of flow and transport in porous media are founded based on

assumptions and simplifications which do not necessarily hold under all dynamic and

boundary conditions. For example, important characteristic curves of multiphase flow such

as capillary pressure curve, relative permeability, and capillary desaturation curves are all

obtained under very specific flow conditions. Capillary pressure curve is usually measured

under equilibrium conditions where there is no flow in the system, or relative permeability

curves are obtained under steady-state conditions. One can imagine that under transient

dynamic conditions, you may get different characteristic curves compared to the

conventional capillary pressure-saturation or relative permeability-saturation curves.

Another important problem is the mixing and transport in porous media which can be

Fickian and non-Fickian and transport properties are obtained by experiments. Pore-scale

models provide invaluable insights into the effect of pore morphology on mixing

processes. Pore-scale models can be used to identify the multi-process problems such as

wettability alteration, electrokinetic flow, multiphase transport problems, etc.

This presentation will cover an overview of diverse applications of pore-network

modelling and micro-model experiments. Successful examples such as quasi-static [1], and

dynamics of multiphase flow [2], non-equilibrium capillary pressure [3], mixing [4,5],

electrokinetic flow [6], residual saturation [7,8] and wettability alteration are presented in

this talk to illustrate the critical role of pore-scale modelling and imaging in advancing

current understanding of porous media processes.

References [1] Insights into the relationships among capillary pressure, saturation, interfacial area and relative

permeability using pore-network modelling, V Joekar-Niasar, et al ., Transport in Porous Media 74 (2),

201-219, 109, 2008

[2] Non-equilibrium effects in capillarity and interfacial area in two-phase flow: Dynamic pore-network

modelling, V Joekar-Niasar, SM Hassanizadeh, HK Dahle, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 655, 38-71, 93,

2010

[3] Effect of fluids properties on non-equilibrium capillarity effects: Dynamic pore-network modeling

V Joekar-Niasar, SM Hassanizadeh, International Journal of Multiphase Flow 37 (2), 198-214 47, 2011

[4] Pore-scale and continuum simulations of solute transport micromodel benchmark experiments

M Oostrom, Y Mehmani, et al, Computational Geosciences, 1-23 7, 2014 [5] Transport regimes in correlated fields; a pore-scale study, V Joekar-Niasar, M. Babaei, Advanced in

Water Resources, Submitted (2015)

[6] Analytical solution of electrohydrodynamic flow and transport in rectangular channels: inclusion of

double layer effects, V Joekar-Niasar, et al Computational Geosciences 17 (3), 497-513,1, 2013

[7] Trapping and hysteresis in two-phase flow in porous media: A pore-network study

V Joekar-Niasar, et al Water Resources Research 49 (7), 4244-4256,12, 2013

[8] Effect of initial hydraulic conditions on capillary rise in a porous medium: Pore-network modeling

V Joekar-Niasar, SM Hassanizadeh, Vadose Zone Journal 11 (3) 3, 2012


12

Permeability enhancement for transdermal delivery of large

molecule using low frequency sonophoresis combined with microneedles

Tao Han, Diganta B. Das

Loughborough University, Chemical Engineering Department, Loughborough,UK

(Email: [email protected])

Transdermal drug delivery (TDD) method can avoid the gastrointestinal and liver metabolism and,

it has been considered as an alternative to oral drug delivery [1]

. But TDD is greatly limited by the

high resistance nature of the skin. The outer layer of the skin, which is called the stratum corneum

(SC), can prevent diffusion of the substance whose molecule weight is higher than 500 Da [2]

.

Sonophoresis is a technology that uses ultrasound to enhance the permeability of the skin.

However in the delivery of large molecules, ultrasound cannot provide efficient enhancement

without generating painfulness. In that case, ultrasound treatment must be kept in a safe range

while other method is involved to cooperate with sonophoresis [3]

. Microneedles array is

employed to create pores and loosen the structure of SC layer. Then optimised ultrasound

treatment can be applied on the target area whereby micro-jet can be introduced by inertial

cavitation to further increase the permeability [4]

. To explore the feasibility of this option, bovine

serum albumin (BSA) which has molecular weight over 60,000 Da has been chosen as a model

drug for permeation study. The in vitro porcine skin is used which is mounted on Franz diffusion

cells. The permeability results of passive diffusion compared with 1200µm and 1500µm

microneedles pretreatment have been done. Some of the typical results are shown in Fig. 1. All the

microneedles pretreatment is under 1 MPa pressure for 10min and the experiment is last for 5

hours. The maximum permeability reaches 0.43 µm/s at 30 min when using the 1500 µm

microneedles. It shows 4 times higher permeability as compared to that of the passive diffusion at

the same time point. Fig. 2 shows the permeability results of microneedles combined with

ultrasound. The highest permeability occurs when using 1500 µm microneedles pretreated the

skin sample for 10min then applying 15 W ultrasound for another 10min. The permeability

reaches 1 µm/s which is doubled in comparison to 1500 µm microneedles alone. The results

indicate that using ultrasound cavitation effect after the microneedles pretreatment can greatly

increase the permeability of the large molecule through skin sample which reveals a better

prospect of transdermal drug delivery technologies. It also suggests in the transportation of large

molecules, the stratum corneum may not be the only barrier. The ultrasound cavitation not only

disrupt the stratum corneum but also increase the penetration depth of the microneedles pretreated

area which means it may also help the drug molecules pass through the underneath skin layers

easier.


13

References

1. J. Hadgraft, R.H. Guy, Transdermal drug delivery: Developmental issues and research initiatives, Marcel Dekker, New York

(1989).

2. M.B. Brown, G.P. Martin, S.A. Jones, F.K. Akomeah, “Dermal and transdermal drug delivery systems: Current and future

prospects,” Drug Deliv., 13(3), 175-187 (2006).

3. D. Levy, J. Kost, Y. Meshulam, R. Langer, “Effect of ultrasound on transdermal drug delivery to rats and guinea pigs,” Journal

of Clinical Investigation, 83(6), 2074-2078 (1989).

4. L. Wolloch, J. Kost, “The importance of microjet vs shock wave formation in sonophoresis,” Journal of Controlled Release,

148(2), 204-211 (2010).

-0.05

0

0.05

0.1

0.15

0.2

0.25

0.3

0.35

0.4

0.45

0.5

0 100 200 300 400

Pe

rme

abili

ty (

µm

/s)

Time (min)

Passive

Microneedles 1200mm

Microneedles 1500mm

0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1

1.2

9 12 15 18

Pe

rme

abili

ty (

µm

/s)

Ultrasound Power (W)

Without Microneedles

With 1.2 mm Microneedles

With 1.5 mm Microneedles

Fig.1 Microneedles pre-treatment for 10 min with

1200 µm and 1500µm compare to passive

diffusion

Fig.2 Different ultrasound output power with 10

min treatment time combined with 1.2 mm

and 1.5 mm microneedles patch


14

Microstructure and Porosity Evolution in Compacted Swelling Clays

Majid Sedighi

School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering, The University of Manchester,

Manchester, United Kingdom

Compacted swelling clays have been proposed as the buffer material in the Engineered Barrier

System (EBS) in geological disposal concept of high level radioactive waste (Fig. 1). It has been

found that the physical, chemical and mechanical behaviour of compacted swelling clays is

primarily governed by the microstructure and interactions between minerals, water and chemicals.

The system of compacted clays includes a multi scale pore space system in which the state of

water and chemicals is different at each scale (Fig. 1). The transport of water and chemicals/gas in

the compacted clay buffer is highly affected by the evolution of microstructure and micro porosity

associated. Understanding the porosity system and its evolution due to the environmental

conditions of the repository is of important areas in the performance assessment of EBS.

A new approach to predict the evolution of micro porosity/pore-water in compacted swelling clays

due to variations in suction and temperature will be presented. The theoretical formulation

proposed is based on a geochemical reaction modelling that describes the microstructure

hydration/dehydration of smectite minerals. The geochemical modelling approach has been scaled

up to obtain a theoretical description of the porosity evolution. The thermodynamic parameters of

the model retrieved from water retention data for the case of compacted swelling clay (bentonite)

will be presented.

The micro and macro porosity variations in bentonite with suction and temperature under highly

compacted and restricted swelling conditions will be discussed. The results provide an insight into

the evolution of pore water in compacted bentonite with suction at different temperature values

and quantify the dynamic of water exchange between micro and macro pores. Preliminary results

of the model application in studying the reactive transport properties of compacted bentonite will

be described and the results are compared with the experimental observations.

Fig.1. Schematic of the geological disposal concept, Engineered Barrier System and Porosity system of

compacted clay buffer.


15

Predicting Permeability Losses in Zero-valent Iron Permeable Reactive

Barrier for Remediation of Contaminated Groundwater

U. Santisukkasaem and D. B. Das

Department of Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU,

Leicestershire

The permeable reactive barrier (PRB) is a widely used technology for in-situ subsurface

remediation as it is capable of treating large contaminant plumes cost effectively. Zero-valent iron

(ZVI) is a reactive material that has been extensively used as it is highly reactive and suitable for

treating various kinds of contaminants, i.e. hydrocarbons and heavy metals. Despite the facts that

ZVI-PRB has been utilized in groundwater remediation technology for more than two decades,

the complex mechanisms that occur in the treatment process need further studies. One of the

significant issues that need to be addressed, which is intimately related to the hydrodynamic of

ZVI-PRB, is the rate of mineral precipitation and, permeability/porosity reduction within the PRB.

To provide further understanding on their behaviour, we have carried out a non-dimensional

analysis and Artificial Neural Network analysis of the permeability losses of the PRB. For

obtaining the required experimental data for these purposes, a smaller (4.50 cm inner diameter and

length of 10 cm) and larger scale (14 cm inner diameter and length of 76 cm) experimental ZVI

reactors have been set up and operated with the flow rate imitating the natural groundwater flow

rate. The corroded ZVI were analysed to identify the phase compositions and porosity changes

using X-ray Diffraction (XRD) techniques and micro computed tomography (μCT). The flow

experiment has confirmed that there is a drop in flow rate and a decrease in permeability. The

chemical phases identified are Magnetite and Maghemite, which are the iron oxides that occur

from the reduction of iron in water. The image from μCT indicated the changes in particle size,

pore size and porosity. Overall, the developed approaches for non-dimensional analysis and ANN

for predicting permeability have been found to be useful and they envisage to be useful to support

in designing the appropriate PRB.


16

Spreading of blood over porous substrate: Dried blood spots sampling

TzuChieh Chaoa, Diganta B. Das

*, Victor Starov

b

Department of Chemical Engineering Loughborough University, Loughborough LE113TU,

Leicestershire

*Corresponding author ([email protected]), a ([email protected]), b ([email protected])

Dried blood spot (DBS) is a blood collecting and storage method, which has been widely applied

for newborn screening, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM), and others. The concept of DBS

involves the use a porous filter paper to absorb blood drops and preserve them as dried blood

samples for further analysis. However, there are some disadvantages of the DBS process, such as,

unequal distribution, haematocrit effects and analytes extraction, which have limited their

applications for highly sensitive analysis.

To address these issues, the spreading/imbibition of blood during the DBS sampling process has

been investigated from both experimental and theoretical point of view in this work. The sampling

process of DBS is described as a spreading process of a non-Newtonian drop (blood) over porous

substrates (filter paper). Porcine blood with different haematocrit levels spreading/penetrating

over different porous substrates, such as, commercial DBS filter paper and nitrocellulose

membrane, have been used for the investigation via our spreading experiment. The time evolution

of spreading parameters of DBS sampling process, such as, contact angles, droplet base radius and

wetted region radius, were recorded and analysed to describe the spreading/imbibition behaviour

of DBS sampling. The experimental results have shown that the spreading parameters of DBS

sampling on each porous substrate fall into a universal curve under the dimensionless scale.

According to our observations, the spreading behaviour of blood can be described as complete

wetting on the commercial DBS cards (Whatman 903) and partial wetting on the nitrocellulose

membrane.

Simulating models have been developed to describe the spreading/imbibition behaviours of DBS

sampling process over porous substrate in complete wetting case. In the case of complete wetting,

a system of two differential equations is derived, which describes the time evolution of radius of

both the drop base and the wetted region inside the porous medium. The results show a good

agreement while validating the spreading parameter, known as, droplet base radius, wetted region

radius and contact angle with experiment data. These models provide simple and accurate

methods to describe the spreading behaviour of DBS sampling process.

In the consideration of the application of DBS analysis, the understanding of spreading/imbibition

behaviour of DBS should allow us to better control the performance and outcome of

pharmaceutical and analytical studies while using DBS samples. In order to improve the current

theoretical studies in DBS application, further research is recommended.

mailto:[email protected]




17

Estimating glucose diffusivities in electrospun fibers using diffusion cell

experiments and image processing

Shuai Wang1, Vibudh Agrawal

2, Diganta Bhusan Das

1 and Stella Georgiadou

1

1Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough,

2Chemical Engineering, IIT

Bombay, Mumbai

Electrospinning is a common technique, which is applied for fabrication of scaffold for tissue

engineering bioreactors. For making the scaffolds with desired morphology, a thorough

understanding of the effects of the key parameters on nutrient transport in the scaffold are needed.

Furthermore, it is necessary to have methods that predict the nutrient transport behavior. To

address these issues partially, we prepare electro-spun polycaprolactone (PCL) scaffolds with

different pore morphology by using different electrospinning duration and polymer solution flow

rate. . Subsequently, the glucose diffusivities of these scaffolds imbibed in cell culture medium

(CCM) and water are then measured. It is observed that the electrospinning process is

reproducible and fiber-fiber space and fiber diameter are both increased with higher PCL flow

rate. The fiber-fiber distance and fiber diameter are also slightly increased if the flow rate is

increased by the usage of two syringes for injecting the polymer solution instead of a single

cylinder.

It is well recognized however that it is not always possible to obtain results from cell culture

experiments due to many reasons, which calls for other methods to predict those results. For this

reason, we also attempt to predict the diffusion coefficients of glucose in CCM and water through

different electro-spun scaffolds by processing scanning electronic microscope (SEM) images. For

this purpose we define that the transport mechanisms in the pore space of the scaffolds are known

or could be predicted. The diffusivity values obtained through images processing tool are

compared to experimentally obtained values and conclusions are drawn as to whether it is possible

to predict the diffusion coefficients through this method. It can be seen that results obtained from

image processing are close to the experimentaly obtained results in the case of porosity as well as

diffusion coefficient.


18

Numerical simulation of Enhanced Gas Recovery (EGR) by CO2 injection into

very low-pressure partially-depleted gas reservoirs (application to north

Morecambe gas field) Salim Goudarzi, Simon A. Mathias & Jon G. Gluyas

Earth Sciences Department, Durham University, Durham, UK

Injection of CO2 into depleted natural gas reservoirs offers the potential to securely store carbon

dioxide while enhancing gas recovery. This could offset the cost of the greenhouse gas reduction

as well as allowing the continued use of fossil fuels in a CO2 emission tax environment. The

objective is to investigate the feasibility of Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) coupled with

Enhanced Gas Recovery (EGR) in the UK Southern Irish Sea. The Southern Irish Sea contains

many partially depleted gas fields; it is not clear how much of this resource may be redefined as

reserve for fields with CO2 injection. However, even a modest recovery of 50%, would constitute

a massive increase in the reserves across the whole basin.

To date, there have been only a small handful of CCS projects and no commercial scale EGR

projects worldwide, and our fundamental understanding of the technical and practical risks posed

by CO2 injection and uncertainties associated with CO2-CH4 mixture remains rudimentary. This

study seeks to build Multicomponent Multiphase (McMp) numerical models, using Method of

Lines (MOL) and application of state of the art ODE solvers, to explore the significance of heat

transport, pressure buildup and compositional changes during CO2 injection in very low-pressure

(less than 1 MPa) depleted gas reservoirs.

MOL requires formulation of derivatives of the Primary Variables (PV) with respect to time,

which generally involves using a combination of chain-rule and product-rule differentiation. This

gives rise to the need for evaluating partial derivatives of some of the flow variables (bulk fluid

density per unit volume of rock, temperature, phase pressures etc.) with respect to PVs. In this

project, it is shown how it is possible to evaluate these partial derivatives analytically (as opposed

to e.g. conventional finite differencing), which significantly improves the efficiency and accuracy.

Moreover, following an assumption of constant equilibrium ratios for CO2 and CH4, a ternary

flash calculator is developed providing closed-form relationships for exact interpolation between

equations of state for CO2-H2O and CH4-H2O binary mixtures. The results show excellent

agreement with experimental measurements of solubilities for the ternary CO2-CH4-H2O system.

Numerical simulations predict that the result of adding dissolved CO2 to a nearly saturated CH4-

H2O solution is the exsolution of a gas phase. Not because the solubility limit of the CH4 is

reduced (counterintuitively, solubility of CH4 into H2O increases in presence of CO2), rather

because when the sum of the partial pressures of all of the gas species exceeds the liquid pressure,

a gas bubble forms which in turn leads to some of the gas being mobilised. Furthermore, models

predict a temperature drop around the injection well as the CO2 expands due to Joule-Thompson

effect. This change in temperature is negligible at higher initial reservoir pressures (e.g. 10MPa),

unlike at low pressures (less than 1MPa) where the temperature drop could be as much as 20oC.

Temperature away from the injection point is unaffected and remains constant throughout.

red by Centrica Plc.


19

Geo-electrical Characterisation in the Context of Geological Carbon

Sequestration

Kazeem Rabiu, Lidong Han, Diganta Bhusan Das*

Department of Chemical Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU,

Leicestershire

(Corresponding author: [email protected])

The effects of CO2 emission which contribute to global warming that lead to the effect of climate

change can be minimised by carbon sequestration technique. However, it has been argued that

there is possibility of CO2 leakages from the storage reservoirs to shallow aquifer and contaminate

portable groundwater which consequently become a threat to living organisms. In order to

develop suitable monitoring strategy for injected CO2 into porous domain such as silica and

carbonate sand, simultaneous measurements of electrical conductivity (σb) and dielectric constant

(σb) have been carried out at high pressure and temperature relevant for geological storage of CO2.

The effects of pressure, temperature, salt concentration and porous materials on geoelectrical

properties (σb, εb) and water saturation (Sw) relationship have been studied in this work.



20

Simulating hydrate migration in shallow marine sediments

J. S. Hardwick, S. A. Mathias, J. G. Gluyas

Department of Earth Sciences, Durham University, Durham, UK

Total reserves of gas hydrates are several times more than the known conventional reserves of oil

and gas, highlighting their future economic importance. Furthermore, methane hydrates are of

particular interest due to their potentially significant “greenhouse” feedback effect on climate

change. The stability and decomposition of hydrates beneath the sea floor is highly sensitive to the

effects of salinity, temperature and sea level. Increasing temperatures lead to hydrate

decomposition, whereas the effect of rising sea level stabilises hydrate. Influx of fresh water

decreases local salinity and encourages hydrate formation. This three-way trade-off has long been

associated with migrating hydrate stability regions during glacial and interglacial periods. The

focus of this project is to numerically simulate the effect of changing sea levels on methane

release from shallow marine hydrates over multi interglacial time-scales. The relevant multiphase,

multicomponent, non-isothermal problem is to be mathematically simulated using MATLAB’s in-

built ordinary differential equation solvers in conjunction with state-of-the-art equations of state.

Building the model in its entirety, as opposed to using “off the shelf” software such as

TOUGH+HYDRATE, will allow us to better constrain constitutive processes such as how hydrate

precipitation affects two-phase relative permeability. Another consideration is whether a kinetic or

equilibrium modeling approach is more appropriate for glacial-interglacial time scales. In this

context, we present 1-D and 2-D dissociation models using the kinetic model introduced by Kim

et al. (1987) and an equivalent equilibrium model, where dissociation is assumed instantaneous.

Model results are compared to experimental data provided by Masuda et al. (1999) with

preliminary results highlighting the importance of a good description of relative permeability

evolution with decreasing hydrate saturation. Ambient heat flux from the surrounding

environment is also found to have an important control on hydrate dissociation, in opposition to

the endothermic negative feedback nature of hydrate phase change. Further work will look to

include the effects of miscibility, salinity and ice formation for a more complete model.

References

Kim, H. C., P. R. Bishnoi, R. A. Heidemann and S.S H. Rizvi., (1987) Kinetics of Methane Hydrate

Decomposition. Chemical Engineering Science, Vol 42, No 7, 1645-1653

Masuda, Y., Y. Fujinaga, S. Naganawa, K. Fujita, K. Sato and Y. Hayashi., (1999) Modelling and

experimental studies on dissociation of methane gas hydrate in berea sandstone cores. In: Proceedings

of Third International Conference on Gas Hydrates, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA


21

Dynamics of Evaporation from Porous Media

Nima Shokri

Multiphase Flow and Porous Media Research Group

School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science, University of Manchester, UK

Drying of porous media is strongly influenced by the interplay between transport properties of the

medium and external boundary conditions. Initial stages of evaporation are supplied by capillary-

induced liquid flow connecting a receding drying front (i.e. the interface between saturated and

unsaturated zone) to evaporation surface, the so-called stage-1 evaporation. At a certain drying

front depth, gravity overcomes capillary forces and a transition from liquid flow-supported stage-1

to diffusion-supported stage-2 evaporation occurs. Characteristic lengths deduced from the

capillary pressure saturation curve are proposed to predict the end of stage-1 evaporation under

different boundary conditions. Effects of pore size distribution, wettability and structure of porous

media are considered in the proposed characteristic lengths. The model predictions are checked

and evaluated by a comprehensive series of micro- and macro-scale evaporation experiments

using cutting-edge techniques such as synchrotron x-ray tomography and neutron radiography.

Results indicate, that the common notion of hydraulic conductivity controlling evaporation rate

from porous media is incomplete and other factors may play a role. Besides, new insights

regarding dynamics of drying front displacement and preferential flows affected by texture,

wettability and structural heterogeneity of porous media together with the preferential salt

deposition in the case of drying saline porous media are discussed.

References

Norouzi Rad, M., N. Shokri, A. Keshmiri, P. Withers (2015), Effects of grain and pore size on salt

precipitation during evaporation from porous media: A pore-scale investigation, Trans. Porous.

Med., doi 10.1007/s11242-015-0515-8.

Norouzi Rad, M., N. Shokri (2014), Effects of grain angularity on NaCl precipitation in porous

media during evaporation, Water Resour. Res., 50, 9020-9030.

Shokri, N. (2014), Pore-scale dynamics of salt transport and distribution in drying porous media,

Phys. Fluids, 26, 012106.

Shokri, N., D. Or (2013), Drying patterns of porous media containing wettability contrasts, J.

Colloid Interface Sci., 391, 135-141.

Shokri, N., M. Sahimi (2012), The structure of drying fronts in three-dimensional porous media,

Phys. Rev. E 85, 066312.

Shokri, N., M. Sahimi, D. Or (2012), Morphology, Propagation Dynamics and Scaling

Characteristics of Drying Fronts in Porous Media, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L09401.

Shokri, N., D. Or (2011), What determines drying rates at the onset of diffusion controlled stage-2

evaporation from porous media?, Water Resour. Res., 47, W09513.

Shokri, N., P. Lehmann, D. Or (2010), Evaporation from layered porous media, J. Geophys. Res.,

115, B06204.


22

Multi-scale multi-physics modelling of multi-phase flow phenomena in porous

media

Florian Doster

Heriot-Watt University

Geological applications of multi-phase flow in porous media span spatial dimensions of

kilometres and temporal dimensions of days, years and centuries. However, the spatial dimensions

of the flow processes are micrometres or even smaller and relevant events such as pore-fillings or

snap-off only take fractions of seconds. Nonlinearities, heterogeneities and the lack of scale

separations as well as the coupling between different physical or chemical phenomena and

processes challenge the development of general models and theories as well as proper simulation

tools. Existing models are often either too simple to capture relevant processes or too complicated

to be useful. Simplifications are often chosen based on availability of tools and knowledge rather

than capture first-order controls.

In our research group we aim to address these challenges by a holistic approach including

simplified models for specific applications exploiting symmetries and scale separations,

advancing physical understanding of fundamental flow processes, investigating coupled

phenomena and exploring the mathematical foundations thereof. In my presentation I will present

examples useful but not limited to the application of CO2 storage.


23

Quantify the viscous crossflow and its effects on tertiary polymer flooding

process in heterogeneity reservoirs

Yingfang Zhou1, Ann H. Muggeridge

1, Carl Fredrik Berg

2, Peter King

1

1.Imperial College London, London, the UK;

2. Statoil, Trondheim Norway

Tertiary polymer flooding is believed to be an effective strategy for recovering the remaining oil

from mature oil reservoirs. It improves displacement efficiency in homogeneous reservoirs by

increasing the viscosity of injected fluid. It should also improve conformance by reducing the

tendency of the injected fluid to channel through more permeable layers and channels. Studies in

the 1990 have shown that it may also improve macroscopic sweep in heterogeneous reservoirs

through viscous cross-flow between zones of contrasting permeability. Nonetheless many oil

companies are cautious about deploying this expensive technology in such reservoirs. Uncertainty

in the geological model means that engineers and manager perceive that there is a greater risk that

the recovery improvement may be less than expected.

In this talk, the relative importance of reservoir heterogeneity, viscosity ratio and polymer

viscosities on tertiary polymer flooding performance are investigated. This is accomplished by

numerical simulation. We first investigated the impact of permeability contrast, aspect ratio and

gravity in a simple two layered model. The study was then extended to more realistic models of

geological heterogeneity taken from the SPE 10 Model 2 (which is a synthetic model of a Brent

sequence). The reservoir heterogeneity in these models was quantified using an index derived

from maps of the vorticity of single phase flow in these models. This vorticity heterogeneity index

has been demonstrated to provide a good measure of the impact of heterogeneity of recovery and

breakthrough in a number of previous publications. We compared the relative contribution to

recovery from improved displacement efficiency, viscous cross-flow and gravity in all cases.

The results show a non-trivial relationship between the incremental recovery of polymer flooding

versus permeability contrast and the size of the layers for different oil-water mobilites. We find

that viscous cross-flow can result in significant incremental recovery in the layered model. In the

more realistic heterogeneous models we find that incremental oil recovery from tertiary polymer

injection is higher in the more heterogeneous systems and that this incremental oil recovery is a

result of viscous cross-flow. Thus geological heterogeneity may not always have an adverse

impact on improved oil recovery.


24

Uncertainty Quantification in Subsurface Reservoirs

Ahmed H. Elsheikh, HWU, Edinburgh

In this talk, I will discuss some of recent advances in uncertainty quantification (UQ) for

subsurface reservoir models to support recovery performance prediction and optimization [1,2]. I

will cover topic related probabilistic model calibration against multiple data sources, model

calibration under uncertainty in prior geologic models (geologic scenarios) [3] and quantitative

risk assessment [4]. Additionally, I will discuss some recent work on model calibration building

based on ideas form compressed sensing and sparse reconstruction methods [5], non-intrusive

polynomial chaos [6] and response surfaces methods [7].

References:

[1] Elsheikh A.H., Jackson M.D. and Laforce T.C., Bayesian reservoir history matching

considering model and parameter uncertainties, Mathematical Geosciences, v. 44, n. 5, p. 515-

543, 2012.

[2] Elsheikh A.H., Wheeler M.F. and Hoteit I., Nested sampling algorithm for subsurface flow

model selection, uncertainty quantification and nonlinear calibration, Water Resources Research,

v. 49, n. 12, p. 8383-8399, 2013.

[3] Elsheikh A.H., Demyanov V., Tavakoli R., Christie M.A. and Wheeler M.F., Calibration of

channelized subsurface flow models using nested sampling and soft probabilities, Advances in

Water Resource, v. 75, p. 14-30, 2015.

[4] Elsheikh A.H., Oladyshkin S., Nowak W., Christie M.A., “Estimating the Probability of CO2

Leakage Using Rare Event Simulation”, ECMOR XIV-14th European conference on the

mathematics of oil recovery, 2014.

[5] Elsheikh A.H., Wheeler M.F. and Hoteit I., Sparse calibration of subsurface flow models

using nonlinear orthogonal matching pursuit and an iterative stochastic ensemble method,

Advances in Water Resources, v. 56, p. 14-26, 2013.

[6] Elsheikh A.H., Hoteit, I. and Wheeler M.F., Efficient Bayesian inference of subsurface flow

models using nested sampling and sparse polynomial chaos surrogates, Computer Methods in

Applied Mechanics and Engineering, v. 269, p. 515-537, 2014.

[7] Petvipusit K.R., Elsheikh A.H., Laforce T.C., King P.R. and Blunt M.J., Robust optimisation

of CO2 sequestration strategies under geological uncertainty using adaptive sparse grid

surrogates, Computational Geoscience, v. 18, n. 5, p. 763-778, 2014.


25

The Heat Transfer Performance of Geothermal Heat Exchangers under the

Situation of Groundwater Seepage

H. Jin1, P. Wang

1, Y. Wang

2

1. College of Water Resources Science and Engineering, Taiyuan University of Technology,

Taiyuan China

2. School of Computing, Science & Engineering, University of Salford, Manchester UK

In recent decades, Ground Source Heat Pump (GSHP) systems raised increasing interest in the

efforts to explore sustainable energy resources. GSHP takes advantage of shallow ground

temperature to provide a viable alternative to conventional heating and cooling systems for

buildings. The heat exchange efficiency of GSHP depends upon local geo-environmental

conditions, such as the sub-ground constitution, the groundwater level and flow, and aquifer

properties. These conditions play the major factor of consideration in design and operation, which

determine rationally the optimum system scale, pipe arrangement, and running modes. This

research aims to understand the influences of groundwater seepage on heat transfer performance

of GSHP systems.

A physical model was built to study the coupled hydro-thermal effects. The model used an

electrically heated bar as the heat source, which was horizontally buried in a sand box and was

infiltrated with a constant vertical water flow. Experimental tests were conducted to measure the

temperature at different local positions above and under the heat source bar. Situations of different

sand particle sizes and different water flow rates wear investigated. A numerical model using the

COMSOL Multiphysics software was developed to simulate the coupled thermal conduction and

water advection process of the experiment. The modelled temperature profiles in the box were

compared with the experimental measurements. The effects of the factors, such as the

groundwater flow rate, the ground media (the sand in this case) parameters, including density,

thermal conductivity, volume specific heat and porosity were analyzed.

The results have showed a significant influence of the groundwater flow on the profile of soil

temperature field around the ground heat exchanger. The thermal exchanging region expands

under the situation of groundwater flow, in which the down steam area experiences a higher

thermal load than the upper steam area. The groundwater flow increases the heat convection and

diffusion, which helps the thermal exchange between GSHP and surrounding environment. The

soil parameters have also showed significant influences on the temperature profile. The soil

porosity has a significant effect on the thermal diffusivity and the effective region of the influence

of the flow groundwater.

To have more profound understanding on the complicated coupled thermal-hydro process in

GSHP, further researches are needed on both experiment and numerical model.


26

Renold Building

Rail station

interpore-pmpm · 3. institute of petroleum engineering, heriot-watt university, 4. international...

Documents