Viscoelastic surfactant fluids filtration in porous media: A pore-scale study

We investigated the flow of viscoelastic surfactant (VES) solutions, an important type of fracturing fluids for unconventional hydrocarbon recovery, through a diverging–converging microfluidic channel that mimics realistic unit in porous media. Newtonian fluid and viscoelastic hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) solution were used as control groups. We vary Deborah numbers (De) up to 61.2, and found that the flow patterns of HPAM and VES solutions become very different once De ≥ 6.12. This is attributed to different generation mechanisms of viscoelasticity, thus different responses to extensional rates at pore-throats, for HPAM and VES solutions. It results in significantly smaller pressure drop of VES solutions through the microchannel compared to HPAM solution. It interprets higher filtration loss of VES solution than HPAM in core experiments and in field observations. The set-up can be generalized as a prototype to effectively evaluate the filtration of fracturing fluids.     

Modeling of fouling in cross-flow microfiltration of suspensions

Cross-flow filtration of fine suspensions through microsieves occurs in microprocessing. The interaction of particles with surfaces in microenvironments has been extensively studied, but predominantly in monolayers and not with an eye to microfiltration. Here, we introduce a microfiltration model that pertains to particles that might be seen as fine in a macroscopic environment, but are large enough to intrude significantly into the shear layer of a microchannel. Thus, particle accumulation upon the sieve couples the steady-state filtrate flux and the suspension flow through the microchannel that feeds the sieve. We envision and create a stable, stationary multilayer of particles whose thickness is shear-limited and we identify and verify the structure and parameters that limit steady filtration in this environment. At first, a packed bed of particles forms, growing into and regulated by the micro channel's shear flow. A critical shear stress is shown to determine the thickness of the bed, seen as a stationary and stable multilayer of particles through which filtration may occur. As the bed thickens, at the expense of channel area for suspension flow, surface shear stress increases until no further particle adherence is possible. We built a simple example using hard noninteracting polymer microspheres and conducted cross-flow filtration experiments over Aquamarijn™ microsieves (uniform pore size of 0.8 μm). We observed a steady cake-layer thickness and because of the simple geometry afforded by uniform spheres, we could approximate the force balance, cake resistance, and filtration rate from first principles. The good fit of our data to the proposed mechanism lays a firm basis for the semiquantitative analysis of the behavior of more complex suspensions. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 65: 207–213, 2019     

Flow Field Simulation and Measurement in Packed Beds Based on 4D-X-Ray Computed Tomography

X-ray computed tomography (XCT) combined with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations have proved to be a powerful and versatile tool to describe fluids flow through packed bed systems. In this contribution, two examples of the application of XCT experiments to track the fluid flow and fluid penetration in packed bed systems are shown. The first one shows how geometrical information extracted from XCT measurements can be coupled to CFD simulations to assess fluid flows reliably. Here the example of a packed bed of three-dimensional (3D) printed cylindrical-shaped particles is considered. Finally, a short case study on the monitoring of the progress of the water penetration front in a packed bed composed of glass spheres using four-dimensional (4D) XCT imaging data is presented.     

Rheological behavior and flow instability in capillary extrusion of ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene/high-density polyethylene/nano-SiO2 blends

Rheological behaviors of ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene (PE)/high-density PE/SiO₂ blends are investigated using parallel-plate rheometer and capillary rheometer. The molecular chain conformational change mechanism is used to explain flow instabilities during extrusion. The viewpoints are proposed: (1) critical shear rate depends on the relative strength of irreversible viscous loss and reversible elastic orientation for molecular chains in transverse velocity gradient field inside the die and (2) critical shear stress depends on the extent of molecular chain conformational change inside the die, and the ease of conformational recovery after leaving the die. Modified nano-SiO₂ particles are detected a certain interfacial adhesion in PE matrix. The interfacial interaction limits viscous flow inside the die and conformational recovery after leaving the die, thus causing not only the flow instabilities to occur prematurely on shear rate and delaying sharkskin on shear stress, but also an alternate “sharkskin-melt fracture” appearance after global extrusion fracture. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47713.     

THE FLOW OF MICROEMULSIONS THROUGH PACKED BEDS AND CAPILLARY TUBES

The flow behavior of water-in-oil microemulsions through beds packed with glass spheres was studied experimentally. The microemulsions used in this study exhibited a shear thinning viscosity described by a simple power law model. The flow of the microemulsions was accompanied by significant apparent slip effects, quantified by an effective slip velocity. The effective slip velocity increased with increasing surfactant concentration, but it differed in magnitude for the packed bed and the capillary tube flows.

In the absence of apparent slip effects, the capillary-power law (CPL) model predicted the superficial velocities in the packed beds with an average error of less than 6%. This provides a direct verification of the applicability of the capillary-power law model to inelastic shear thinning fluids in the absence of “anomalous” wall effects.     

Liquid–liquid two-phase flow and mass transfer characteristics in packed microchannels

In this work, the flow hydrodynamic characteristics and the mass transfer performance of immiscible fluids in the packed microchannels are investigated experimentally. Water–kerosene system is used for visually identifying the flow hydrodynamic characteristics in PMMA microchannels, and water–succinic acid–n-butanol is chosen for investigating mass transfer performance in stainless steel microchannels. Quartz sand micro-particles are used as packing particles. In packed microchannels, high liquid–liquid dispersions can be obtained, and the diameter of droplets produced in the packed microchannel can be even less than 10 μm. It ensures better mixing performance and larger effective interfacial area of two immiscible fluids, and improves the mass transfer performance obviously. Compared to the extraction efficiency (46–61%) in the non-packed microchannel, it can reach 81–96% in the packed microchannel. The effects of packing length, micro-particle size on liquid–liquid dispersions and extraction efficiency are investigated. The pressure drop and the specific energy dissipation in the packed microchannels are also discussed.     

Computational analysis of the flow of pseudoplastic power-law fluids in a microchannel plate

The flow of pseudoplastic power-law fluids with different flow indexes at a microchannel plate was studied using computational fluid dynamic simulation.The velocity distribution along the microchannel plate and especially in the microchannel slits,flow pattern along the outlet arc and the pressure drop through the whole of microchannel plate were investigated at different power-law flow indexes.The results showed that the velocity profile in the microchannel slits for low flow index fluids was similar to the plug flow and had uniform pattern.Also the power-law fluids with lower flow indexes had lower stagnation zones near the outlet of the microchannel plate.The pressure drop through the microchannel plate showed huge differences between the fluids.The most interesting result was that the pressure drops for power-law fluids were very smaller than that of Newtonian fluids.In addition,the heat transfer of the fluids through the microchannel with different channel numbers in a wide range of Reynolds number was investigated.For power-law fluid with flow index (n =0.4),the Nusselt number increases continuously as the number of channels increases.The results highlight the potential use of using pseudoplastic fluids in the microheat exchangers which can lower the pressure drop and increase the heat transfer efflciency.     

Development of a virtual Couette rheometer for aerated granular material

A novel rheometer to study the behavior of granular materials in an aerated bed of particles has been developed. The device, called the aerated bed virtual Couette rheometer, is shown to be able to measure the shear stresses in the quasi-static and in the intermediate flow regimes. To validate the instrument, a Newtonian fluid of known viscosity was first sheared. The device was then used for measuring the shear stress of nonaerated glass beads with three -3D printed cells of different sizes to validate the optimal radial position, r*, where both shear rate and shear stress are independent of the cell radius. The results for the nonaerated glass beads displayed Coulomb behavior. The same behavior was observed when the bed was aerated. These experiments also showed that for a fixed shear rate the shear stress decreases as the aeration velocity, U. increases.     

Application of pH-Responsive Viscoelastic Surfactant as Recyclable Fluid at High Temperature

A pH-responsive amphiphilic surfactant stearic amide 3-(N,N-dimethylamino)propylamide (SAA) was synthesized and served as a thickener in aqueous solution to construct a switchable viscoelastic surfactant fluid (VES fluid). The structure of SAA was studied by ¹H NMR, and the viscoelastic behavior of VES fluid was studied in detail by rheological measurements. The viscosity of this VES fluid can be switched reversibly from low to high immediately by adjusting system pH value. Even at high shear rate (170 s⁻¹) and high temperature (90 °C), excellent viscoelastic behavior of this VES fluid can be observed, which is a key performance for fracturing applications. Meanwhile, the recycled VES fluid can still maintain good pH-responsive behavior even after more than three cycles. These unique performances of this VES fluid not only enhanced our understanding of the transformation of wormlike micelles at high temperature, but also enriched a large potential of VES fracturing fluid in the development of oil and gas reservoirs.     

Modelling of gas interstitial velocity radial distribution over cross-section of a tube packed with granular catalyst bed; effects of granule shape and of lateral gas mixing

The previously presented [Zió?kowska, I., Zió?kowski, D., 1993. Modelling of gas interstitial velocity radial distribution over a cross-section of a tube packed with granular catalyst bed. Chemical Engineering Science 48, 3283-3292] mathematical model of gas flow field within a tube packed with a bed of spherical elements has been modernised. The modernisation consists in more rigorous treating of the radial gas dispersion within the bed voids in the fluid dynamic equations and in involving the formulae correlating the flow resistance in beds packed with various non-spherical elements (Raschig rings, cylinders) with their characteristics. The model solution relates the gas interstitial and superficial radial distributions with an empirical parameter—the local effective viscosity or corresponding Reynolds number, dependent on the geometric, aerodynamic and physical properties of the system which are usually known. The effective viscosity is associated with the kinetic energy dissipation due to the interface friction, the shear stresses in molecular and turbulent motion and the radial dispersion in the gas stream. Its knowledge makes possible the evaluation of the radial profiles of the gas interstitial velocity, as well as the dispersion coefficient, or corresponding Péclet number and the drag coefficient for individual element within the bed. The effective viscosity has been determined experimentally for beds of Raschig rings and cylinders by the method presented previously [Zió?kowska, I., Zió?kowski, D., 2001. Experimental analysis of isothermal gas flow field in tubes packed with spheres. Chemical Engineering and Processing 40, 221-233] and the results have been correlated with the system characteristics. Then the correlations have been used, according to the model, in evaluation of the radial distributions of the gas interstitial velocity, the radial dispersion coefficient and the drag coefficient for individual element within the bed.     

UHMWPE/HDPE/纳米SiO2共混体系的毛细管挤出流变行为

采用毛细管流变仪,研究了超高分子量聚乙烯(UHMWPE)/高密度聚乙烯(HDPE)/纳米二氧化硅(SiO2)共混体系,及其对照组的流变行为和挤出过程中的不稳定流动现象,分析了共混物发生鲨鱼皮畸变和整体破裂的临界剪切应力和临界剪切速率的变化情况。结果表明,经过偶联剂改性的纳米SiO2粒子,在PE基质的共混体系中存在一定的界面黏附作用,降低了纳米共混体系的挤出胀大比,弹性特征减轻。这种界面相互作用限制了纳米共混材料在口模区域的黏性流动以及分子链离开口模后的构象恢复,降低了发生流动不稳定现象的临界剪切速率,发生鲨鱼皮畸变的临界剪切应力增大,整体破裂后,形成交替出现"鲨鱼皮-破裂"的振荡性变化外观。     

阴离子型VES压裂液在裂缝性油藏中的研究应用

裂缝性油藏中出现的天然裂缝会在水力压裂过程中发生剪切或者破坏等一系列现象,这导致了压裂液的滤失情况十分严重,进一步造成砂堵或者加砂困难等问题。针对裂缝性油藏中压裂液滤失严重的问题,通过研究阴离子型VES压裂液的性能来降低压裂液的滤失量。测试了VES压裂液的流变性能、耐温性能、粘弹性能、悬砂性能及破胶性能。研究表明,VES压裂液的耐剪切性很好,可以维持长时间的工作要求,在低剪切力下可以维持粘度的不变,在提高剪切速率时粘度会开始下降,在剪切速率得到回降后粘度又可以快速恢复;VES压裂液在60℃的地层中利用率最高,此温度下的粘度最大,弹性也最大,不可用于高于80℃的地层;VES压裂液支撑剂沉降速度很低悬砂性能很好,破胶很快且很彻底;这些优越的性能可以大量减少裂缝性油藏在水力压裂过程中压裂液的滤失量。     

生物膜填料床内含有生化反应的多相传输模型

废气处理生物膜滴滤塔的多孔填料床内是带有气液两相流动、有机污染物扩散、生物膜内生化反应的复杂生化反应体系.在平行平板理论模型基础上,建立了生物膜多孔填料床内含生化反应的多元多相流动及传输特性的多相混合模型,获得了废气处理生物膜滴滤塔净化效率的理论计算方法.模型的理论预测值与生物膜滴滤塔净化低浓度甲苯废气的实验结果基本吻合.     

Flow of gas—solid mixtures in standpipes. A review

In this paper, the literature on standpipe flow is systematically reviewed. In particular, four possible flow regimes are defined, viz. dense phase fluidized solids flow (DENFLO), lean phase fluidized solids flow (LEANFLO), transition packed bed flow (TRANPACFLO) and packed bed flow (PACFLO). The possibilities of coexistence of more than one of these flow regimes and the prediction of these coexistences are discussed. Available equations pertaining to each flow regime and to flow of gas—solids mixture through a slide valve are summarized. The use of the equations for analysis of industrial standpipe operation is illustrated by means of two case studies. Finally, areas where further work would be fruitful are pinpointed. More experimental work is urged to verify the validity of some of the equations presented and to improve our understanding of the different types of flow instabilities in standpipe operation.     

A study of local liquid/solid mass transfer in packed beds under trickling and induced pulsing flow

Induced pulsing flow (by cyclic liquid feeding) in packed beds, operated in the trickling flow regime, is studied as a method of overall improvement of catalytic reactor operation. In this paper results are reported of experiments aimed at determining local and global liquid/solid mass transfer rates, mainly for the so-called fast mode of ON-OFF periodic liquid feeding, with frequencies of order 0.1 Hz. Such mass transfer data for the fast mode of induced pulsing are not available in the literature. Uniform 6 mm glass spheres and alumina cylindrical extrudates, of 1.5 mm diameter and a narrow distribution of lengths, are employed in the tests. For completeness, results are also reported for single-phase (liquid) and trickling flow through the same packed beds. A well-known electrochemical technique is employed to measure instantaneous local mass transfer coefficients by means of quite a few probes distributed throughout the bed. The hydrodynamic characteristics under the above conditions, reported in companion papers, are helpful in interpreting the new mass transfer data.There is a wide spread of the time-averaged local mass transfer rates, in all cases tested, apparently due to packing and flow non-uniformities. This spread is much smaller in the case of packed uniform spheres. In general, the benefits of cyclic liquid feeding are more evident in the packed bed of spheres than in that of cylindrical extrudates; for instance, with increasing mean liquid rate, induced pulsing tends to reduce the spread of local mass transfer coefficients, which suggests that more uniform fluids distribution is promoted. The imposed liquid pulses are reflected in the observed periodic variation of local mass transfer coefficients; the latter appear to decay along the bed in the same manner as the liquid pulses. Other trends of local mass transfer rates are identified and discussed in relation to measured variation of liquid holdup, under the same conditions. For packed spheres, the measured global mass transfer rates are in fair agreement with literature correlations obtained for the trickling flow regime, unlike the case of packed extrudates where significant deviation is observed.     

The effects of viscosity, surface tension, and flow rate on gasoil-water flow pattern in microchannels

A microchannel was fabricated with glass tubes to investigate the effect of viscosity, surface tension, and flow rate on the liquid-liquid two-phase flow regime. Water and gasoil were selected as aqueous and organic working fluids, respectively. The two fluids were injected into the microchannel and created either slug or parallel profile depending on the applied conditions. The range of Reynolds and capillary numbers was chosen in such a way that neither inertia nor interfacial tension forces were negligible. Xanthan gum was used to increase viscosity and Triton X-100 (TX-100) and Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS) were used to reduce the interfacial tension. The results demonstrated that higher value of viscosity and flow rate increased interfacial area, but slug flow regime remained unchanged. The two surfactants showed different effects on the flow regime and interfacial area. Addition of TX-100 did not change the slug flow but decreased the interfacial area. In contrast, addition of SDS increased interfacial area by decreasing the slug’s length in the low concentrations and by switching from slug to parallel regime at high concentrations.     

Mixture Rules for Critical Shear Values of Extruded Linear PE/Branched PE Blends

Oscillatory flow and elastic turbulence belong to the types of flow instabilities frequently encountered during extrusion of polymer melts. The onset of these defects corresponds to the flow conditions when the critical shear stresses or the critical shear rates are attained. The critical values of shear stresses and shear rates were experimentally determined for linear polyethylene/branched polyethylene blends (IPE/bPE) that were prepared with various weight ratios. Consequently, mixture rules of the logarithmic type are proposed. These rules relate the critical value of shear stress (shear rate) of blend to the critical values of shear stresses (shear rates) of the individual pure components, weight fractions, and interaction parameters. There is a good agreement between the proposed mixture rules and experimentally determined critical values.     

Liquid‐liquid two‐phase flow patterns in a new helical microchannel device

Flow patterns of liquid‐liquid two‐phase fluids in a new helical microchannel device were presented in this paper. Three conventional systems were considered: kerosene‐water, n‐butyl acetate‐water, and butanol‐water. Six different flow patterns, slug flow, continuous parallel flow, discontinuous deformation parallel flow, discontinuous deformation parallel‐droplet flow, droplet‐slug flow, and filiform‐droplet flow, were observed. The influence of interfacial tension, microchannel structure, and rotation rate on two‐phase flow patterns were studied, and a universal flow pattern map was presented and discussed. The systems without mass transfer (0.1 g/g (10 %) tri‐n‐butyl phosphate (TBP)‐water, 0.2 g/g (20 %) TBP‐water, and 0.8 g/g (80 %) TBP‐water) and the system with mass transfer (0.8 g/g (80 %) TBP‐0.62 g/g (62 %) H₃PO₄) were used to verify the validity of the proposed universal flow pattern map in predicting flow patterns. The results showed that the former compared with the latter can be predicted more accurately by the universal flow pattern map.     

Rheological properties of poly(vinyl chloride) / epoxidized natural rubber blends. Part II: The effect of processing variables

The effect of processing variables on the rheological properties of PVC/ENR blends was investigated. The role of crosslinking in determining the flow behavior of blends was also examined by means of dynamically cured blends. It was found that PVC/ENR blends yield melts that are power law fluids. The flow of the melts improves with an increase in temperature and shear rate. However, the introduction of crosslinks reverses this trend, although under more rigorous conditions, the influence of crosslinks is superseded, and subsequently, flow becomes shear rate and temperature dependent. PVC/ENR systems also manifested elastic phenomena. The dependence of the elastic phenomena such as die swell and melt fracture on L/D ratio of the die was demonstrated.     

Radial liquid distribution in cocurrent two-phase downflow in packed beds

Radial liquid distribution was measured experimentally for cocurrent, two-phase downflow in packed beds. The effects of bed length, water and air flow rates, and type of packing were determined. The experimental data were obtained in the gas-continuous, transition and pulsing trickling-flow regimes. For all finite air rates, the liquid velocity profiles were approximately flat with the maximum average velocity occurring at the center of the packed column. Increasing the air rate increased the center liquid velocity. The gas rate effect was more pronounced in shorter beds. At higher gas rates the liquid rate had less effect on the radial liquid distribution than at lower gas rates. Operation at higher liquid rates resulted in a flatter radial liquid veilocity profile. It was observed that the bed of pellets operated at high liquid rate and low gas rate was unstable. Increasing the bed height increased the stability of the system and a better liquid distribution was obtained. The effects of water flow rate, bed length, and packing type on the shape of the liquid velocity profiles were minor.