Speaker
Description
Understanding fluid behavior in subsurface energy systems requires insight across multiple length scales, from molecular- and phase-level thermodynamics to pore-scale transport in complex geological media. While conventional laboratory techniques such as core flooding and bulk PVT analysis remain essential, they often lack the ability to directly resolve the physical mechanisms governing multiphase flow and phase behavior. Microfluidics provides a complementary framework by enabling controlled, high-resolution investigation of subsurface-relevant processes. This presentation presents recent advances in microfluidic technologies developed within an industrial research context and their applications to pore-scale porous media studies and PVT fluid-property characterization, with a focus on subsurface energy applications.
Microfluidic porous media platforms have been developed to reproduce key attributes of subsurface rocks, including porosity, permeability, pore-size distributions, grain-zine distributions, and wettability. These micro-models enable direct visualization of multiphase flow processes that are otherwise inferred indirectly from core-scale measurements. Using representative fluids and subsurface-relevant pressure and temperature conditions, these systems have been applied to study drainage and imbibition dynamics, capillary trapping, and phase connectivity. Furthermore, Microfluidic porous media experiments provide mechanistic insight into how wettability and viscosity ratio impacts displacement efficiency and residual saturation. The ability to observe pore-scale events such as snap-off, ganglion mobilization, and cooperative pore filling improves the physical interpretation of core-scale results, reservoir simulation, and field observations.
In parallel with porous media studies, Advanced microfluidic platforms have been developed dedicated to PVT and fluid-property characterization, extending microfluidic applications beyond flow in porous media to bulk phase behavior. Microfluidic PVT devices not only provide phase behavior, density, and viscosity similar to traditional PVT measurements but also enable direct, real-time visualization of phase splitting/merging, bubble nucleation, compositional gradients, and precipitation phenomena under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions, while requiring only small fluid volumes. These microfluidic PVT tools have been applied to complex reservoir fluids, including volatile oils, gas condensates, and CO₂-rich mixtures relevant to enhanced recovery and carbon storage.
By treating pore-scale flow and PVT behavior as distinct but complementary problem domains, microfluidics enables a more physically grounded understanding of subsurface fluid systems. Recent work from the group demonstrates how microfluidic porous media and microfluidic PVT technologies independently enhance insight into key uncertainties, while collectively supporting more robust interpretation of conventional laboratory data. These approaches represent a practical and scalable pathway for integrating pore-scale physics and fluid thermodynamics into subsurface energy engineering workflows.
| Country | Canada |
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