Elastic instabilities during the flow of hydrolyzed polyacrylamide solution in porous media

effect of pore-shape and salt

Journal article (2017)

Authors

D. Kawale Reservoir Engineering - CEG , Dutch Polymer Institute
P.L.J. Zitha Reservoir Engineering - CEG
M.T. Kreutzer ChemE/Chemical Engineering
W.R. Rossen Reservoir Engineering - CEG
P. Boukany ChemE/Product and Process Engineering - AS
Research Group
Reservoir Engineering (CEG) (TU Delft)
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Published Date

2017

Language

English

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Faculty

Civil Engineering & Geosciences

Department

Geoscience and Engineering

Research Group

Reservoir Engineering

Abstract

We experimentally investigate the flow of hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) solution with and without salt in model porous media at high Weissenberg numbers (Wi > 1.0). The effect of pore shapes on the flow pattern and pressure drop is explored by using periodic arrays of circular and square pillars in aligned and staggered layouts. In the apparent shear-thinning regime, we observe stationary dead zones upstream of the pillars. In addition, we confirm that the size of stationary dead zones correlates with the level of shear-thinning, by varying the amount of salt in HPAM solution. At higher shear rates (or Wi), these dead zones are periodically washed away. We present the mechanism of this elastic instability and characterize it based on the pressure drop fluctuation spectral density.

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