Oil phase displacement by acoustic streaming in a reservoir-on-a-chip

This article presents a reservoir-on-a-chip study of acoustic streaming as an enhanced oil recovery mechanism. Microfluidic devices with different porosities are fabricated using photolithography to serve as reservoir-on-a-chip micromodels. We use microparticle image velocimetry to characterize acou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microfluidics and nanofluidics 2019-10, Vol.23 (10), p.1-17, Article 113
Main Authors: Yeh, Hsiang-Lan, Juárez, Jaime J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustic microscopy
Acoustic streaming
Acoustics
Additives
Amplitude
Amplitudes
Analytical Chemistry
Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering
Control equipment
Dynamic response
Engineering
Engineering Fluid Dynamics
Enhanced oil recovery
Flow control
Fluorescence
Fluorescence microscopy
Instruments
Microfluidic devices
Microparticles
Nanotechnology and Microengineering
Oil recovery
Optical pumping
Photolithography
Porosity
Recovery
Research Paper
Reservoirs
Scaling
State (computer science)
Streaming
Velocimetry
Velocity distribution
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Summary:This article presents a reservoir-on-a-chip study of acoustic streaming as an enhanced oil recovery mechanism. Microfluidic devices with different porosities are fabricated using photolithography to serve as reservoir-on-a-chip micromodels. We use microparticle image velocimetry to characterize acoustic streaming-induced pumping as a function of frequency and amplitude. A scaling model applied to the velocity distribution is used to construct a state diagram that connects acoustic pressure to field frequency and amplitude. Optical video fluorescence microscopy is used to track the invasion of a water phase through the oil-saturated porous micromodel. Based on these measurements, we calculate the Blake number as a function of frequency to show that our system exhibits a narrow band dynamic response consistent with a system operating near resonance. Our observations are compared to a general model for Blake number as a function of frequency, porosity and voltage amplitude that was derived from a force balance model of the micromodel undergoing forced oscillation. The results from this paper are broadly applicable to systems beyond enhanced oil recovery, including separations, bio-analytical instruments, additive manufacturing and flow control.
ISSN:1613-4982
1613-4990
DOI:10.1007/s10404-019-2279-x