Dynamics of Viscous Fingering in Porous Media in the Presence of Injected or In Situ Generated Particles

In general, when a more viscous fluid is displaced by a less viscous one, instabilities grow at the interface between them which are referred to as viscous fingering. Viscous fingering is of paramount importance in many applications including, but not limited to, contamination transport in underground waters, enhanced oil recovery, filtration, and chromatographic separation of chemical species. As a result, understanding the dynamics of mixing induced by viscous fingering has received much attention, and has been the focus of many works. In this regard, the effects of dispersion, chemical reaction, heterogeneity, melting, non-monotonic viscosity, non-Newtonian fluids, multiple diffusivity, and non-isothermal displacement have been addressed in the past. In my PhD, I am working on the effect of injected (nanoparticles and nanocatalysts), and in situ generated (asphaltene) particles on the dynamics of viscous fingering in porous media. So far, this research led to publication of two papers and submission of two manuscripts.
Despite a large number of studies on viscous fingering, currently, there is an obvious knowledge gap in this area. In addition, an up-to-date critical review elaborating on various aspects that identifies critical areas for further research is lacking.

Faculty Supervisor:

Hassan Hassanzadeh

Student:

Partner:

Université Libre de Bruxelles

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Environmental Science and Technology; Oil and Gas; Sustainability & the Environment

University:

University of Calgary

Program: