Issue 18, 2015

Mechanism of anomalously increased oil displacement with aqueous viscoelastic polymer solutions

Abstract

Single-phase flows of viscoelastic polymer solutions in both microfluidic devices and rock cores exhibit apparent flow thickening. We demonstrate that this thickening occurs above a critical Deborah number corresponding to the onset of spatio-temporal fluctuations. These fluctuations are observed to occur over a broad range of spatial and temporal scales consistent with elastic turbulence. The fluctuations provide a previously unreported mechanism for enhancing the displacement of a second, capillary trapped, immiscible phase.

Graphical abstract: Mechanism of anomalously increased oil displacement with aqueous viscoelastic polymer solutions

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
08 Jan 2015
Accepted
16 Mar 2015
First published
23 Mar 2015

Soft Matter, 2015,11, 3536-3541

Author version available

Mechanism of anomalously increased oil displacement with aqueous viscoelastic polymer solutions

A. Clarke, A. M. Howe, J. Mitchell, J. Staniland, L. Hawkes and K. Leeper, Soft Matter, 2015, 11, 3536 DOI: 10.1039/C5SM00064E

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