Development of Experimental Methods for Clay-coating of Pores and Fracture Imprinting in Microfluidic Devices
EMSL Project ID
48663
Abstract
EMSL’s Microfluidics Experimental Laboratory has been developed into a unique facility in terms of both microfabrication and experimentation. The research conducted so far in the laboratory has primarily been in artificially constructed porous structures using glass and silicon micromodels. To ensure that the capabilities in the microfluidics laboratory will remain attractive for users in the near, it is important that methods will be developed that allow us to conduct research with natural materials such as sandstones, shales, and basalt. We propose to develop and apply the following two novel microfluidic techniques for pore-scale supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) experimental research: (a) clay-coating of micromodel grains or fractures, and (b) fracture imprinting into natural materials such as shale and sandstone. Funding has been received from DOE-FE, as part of the “Utilization in Unconventional Reservoirs” project, to study scCO2 displacement of brines in micromodels with clay coatings or with natural rock fractures.
Project Details
Start Date
2014-10-08
End Date
2015-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator