Liquid/liquid displacement in a vibrating capillary

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Geophysics
• Fluid Dynamics

Background:

• Mechanical vibrations are known to influence fluid distribution in porous media.
• Existing theories often link vibration-induced fluid percolation changes to solid elasticity and fluid compressibility.
• Observed long-range effects of vibrations in geological reservoirs (100m) contradict theories limited by short damping zones (cm).

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a non-elastic theory for time-averaged effects of small-amplitude, high-frequency vibrations on fluid flow.
• To investigate the impact of translational vibrations on immiscible liquid/liquid displacement in capillary systems.
• To understand how vibrations affect fluid displacement rates and menisci shapes in porous matrices.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel non-elastic theoretical framework.
• Experimental examination of immiscible liquid/liquid displacement flows within a single capillary.
• Application of translational vibrations to the capillary system.

Main Results:

• Significant alterations in meniscus shapes were observed under strong-enough vibrations.
• Vibrations were found to modify the rates of displacement flows.
• Contrary to expectations, vibrations were shown to slow down or completely halt fluid displacement.

Conclusions:

• The study presents a new theory explaining vibration-induced fluid flow changes beyond elastic deformation limits.
• Vibrations can impede rather than facilitate fluid release in porous media, challenging conventional understanding.
• Findings have implications for fluid dynamics in geological reservoirs and other porous systems subjected to vibrations.