Study on the Characteristics of CO<sub>2</sub> Displacing Non-Newtonian Fluids

CO<sub>2</sub> displacement is a key technique that was examined through numerical methods in a 3D Hele–Shaw cell, with CO<sub>2</sub> as the displacing phase and shear-thinning fluids as the displaced phase. Without interfacial tension effects, the displacement shows branchi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yu-Ting Wu, Sung-Ki Lyu, Zhen Qin, Yanjun Qin, Hua Qiao, Bing Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-07-01
Series:Lubricants
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4442/13/7/300
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:CO<sub>2</sub> displacement is a key technique that was examined through numerical methods in a 3D Hele–Shaw cell, with CO<sub>2</sub> as the displacing phase and shear-thinning fluids as the displaced phase. Without interfacial tension effects, the displacement shows branching patterns forming two vertically symmetric fingers, regardless of whether the displacing fluid is air or CO<sub>2</sub>. Under CO<sub>2</sub> displacement, viscous fingering propagates farther and achieves higher displacement efficiency than air. Compared with air displacement, the finger advancing distance increases by 0.0035 m, and the displacement efficiency is 15.2% higher than that of air displacement. Shear-thinning behavior significantly influences the process; stronger shear thinning enhances interfacial stability and suppresses fingering. As the power-law index n increases (reducing shear thinning), the fingering length extends. Variations in interfacial tension reveal it notably affects fingering initiation and velocity in CO<sub>2</sub> displacement of non-Newtonian fluids, but has a weaker impact on fingering formation. Interfacial tension suppresses short-wavelength perturbations, critical to interface stability, jet breakup, and flows, informing applications like foam-assisted oil recovery and microfluidics.
ISSN:2075-4442