Dorthe Wildenschild

Using X-ray computed tomography in hydrology: systems, resolutions, and limitations

A combination of advances in experimental techniques and mathematical analysis has made it possible to characterize phase distribution and pore geometry in porous media using non-destructive X-ray computed tomography (CT). We present qualitative and quantitative CT results for partially saturated media, obtained with different scanning systems and sample sizes, to illustrate advantages and limitations of these various systems, including topics of spatial resolution and contrast. In addition, we present examples of our most recent three-dimensional high-resolution images, for which it was possible to resolve individual pores and to delineate air – water interfacial contacts. This kind of resolution provides a novel opportunity to follow the dynamic flow behavior on the pore scale and to verify new theoretical and numerical modeling approaches. q 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Image processing of multiphase images obtained via X-ray microtomography: A review

Easier access to X-ray microtomography (μCT) facilities has provided much new insight from high-resolution imaging for various problems in porous media research. Pore space analysis with respect to functional properties usually requires segmentation of the intensity data into different classes. Image segmentation is a nontrivial problem that may have a profound impact on all subsequent image analyses. This review deals with two issues that are neglected in most of the recent studies on image segmentation: (i) focus on multiclass segmentation and (ii) detailed descriptions as to why a specific method may fail together with strategies for preventing the failure by applying suitable image enhancement prior to segmentation. In this way, the presented algorithms become very robust and are less prone to operator bias. Three different test images are examined: a synthetic image with ground-truth information, a synchrotron image of precision beads with three different fluids residing in the pore space, and a μCT image of a soil sample containing macropores, rocks, organic matter, and the soil matrix. Image blur is identified as the major cause for poor segmentation results. Other impairments of the raw data like noise, ring artifacts, and intensity variation can be removed with current image enhancement methods. Bayesian Markov random field segmentation, watershed segmentation, and converging active contours are well suited for multiclass segmentation, yet with different success to correct for partial volume effects and conserve small image features simultaneously.

Quantitative Analysis of Flow Processes in a Sand Using Synchrotron-Based X-ray Microtomography

Pore-scale multiphase flow experiments were developed to nondestructively visualize water flow in a sample of porous material using X-ray microtomography. The samples were exposed to similar boundary conditions as in a previous investigation, which examined the effect of initial flow rate on observed dynamic effects in the measured capillary pressure–saturation curves; a significantly higher residual saturation and higher capillary pressures were found when the sample was drained fast using a high air-phase pressure. Prior work applying the X-ray microtomography technique to pore-scale multiphase flow problems has been of a mostly qualitative nature and no experiments have been presented in the existing literature where a truly quantitative approach to investigating the multiphase flow process has been taken, including a thorough image-processing scheme. The tomographic images presented here show, both by qualitative comparison and quantitative analysis in the form of a nearest neighbor analysis, that the dynamic effects seen in previous experiments are likely due to the fast and preferential drainage of large pores in the sample. Once a continuous drained path has been established through the sample, further drainage of the remaining pores, which have been disconnected from the main flowing water continuum, is prevented.

Measurement and prediction of the relationship between capillary pressure, saturation, and interfacial area in a NAPL-water-glass bead system

(1) In this work, the constitutive relationship between capillary pressure (Pc), saturation (Sw), and fluid-fluid interfacial area per volume (IFA) is characterized using computed microtomography for drainage and imbibition experiments consisting of a nonaqueous phase liquid and water. The experimentally measured relationship was compared to a thermodynamic model that relates the area under the PcSw curve to the total IFA, an, and the capillary-associated IFA, anw. Surfaces were fit to the experimental and modeled PcSwan and PcSwanw data in order to characterize the relationship in three dimensions (3D). For the experimental system, it was shown that the PcSwan relationship does not exhibit hysteresis. The model is found to provide a reasonable approximation of the magnitude of the 3D surfaces for an and anw, with a mean absolute percent error of 26% and 15%, respectively. The relatively high mean absolute percent errors are primarily the result of discrepancies observed at the wetting- and nonwetting-phase residual saturation values. Differences in the shapes of the surfaces are noted, particularly in the curvature (arising from the addition of scanning curves and presence of anSw hysteresis in the predicted results) and endpoints (particularly the inherent nature of thermodynamic models to predict significant anw associated with residual nonwetting-phase saturation). Overall, the thermodynamic model is shown to be a practical, inexpensive tool for predicting the PcSwan and PcSwanw surfaces from PcSw data. Citation: Porter, M. L., D. Wildenschild, G. Grant, and J. I. Gerhard (2010), Measurement and prediction of the relationship between capillary pressure, saturation, and interfacial area in a NAPL-water-glass bead system, Water Resour. Res., 46, W08512,

Laboratory investigations of effective flow behavior in unsaturated heterogeneous sands

Two-dimensional unsaturated flow and transport through heterogeneous sand was investigated under controlled laboratory conditions. The unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of five homogeneous sands and three heterogeneous systems composed of these five sands was measured using a steady state flux controlled method. The heterogeneous sand systems were established in a laboratory tank for three realizations of random distributions of the homogeneous sands comprising a system of 207 grid cells. The water flux was controlled at the upper boundary, while a suction was applied at the lower boundary such that on the average a uniform pressure profile was established and gravity flow applied. Solute breakthrough curves measured at discrete points in the tank using time domain reflectometry, as well as dye tracer paths, showed that flow and transport took place in a very tortuous pattern where several grid cells were completely bypassed. The degree of tortuosity appeared to be dependent on the degree of saturation, as the tortuosity increased with decreasing saturation. Despite the tortuous flow patterns, we found that the effective unsaturated hydraulic conductivity as well as the retention curves for the three realizations of the heterogeneous sand were quite similar, thus suggesting that this type of heterogeneous flow system can be treated as an equivalent homogeneous medium characterized by effective parameters.

On the relationship between microstructure and electrical and hydraulic properties of sand‐clay mixtures

A series of laboratory experiments, including measurements of electrical properties, permeability, and porosity, were performed on saturated sand-clay mixtures. Different mixtures and packing geometries of quartz sand and 0 to 10% Na-montmorillonite clay were investigated using solutions of CaCl2 and deionized water. Two main regions of electrical conduction exist: a region dominated by surface conduction and a region where the ionic strength of the saturating fluid controlled conduction. For low fluid conductivities, the sample geometry was found to greatly affect the magnitude of the surface conductance. The influence of the microstructural properties on the electrical properties was quantified by estimating formation factors, Λ-parameters, and surface conductances. The surface conductances estimated using the theory of Johnson et al. [1986] agreed well with measured values. We suggest that high and low bounds on the expected surface and bulk conductances in a natural system can be derived from the measurements on these artificial geometries.

Numerical modeling of observed effective flow behavior in unsaturated heterogeneous sands

The concept of effective parameters has been introduced in recent years to represent the spatial variability of natural soils in numerical simulation models. In the present study, effective hydraulic properties of unsaturated flow were investigated for the case of a two-dimensional heterogeneous laboratory tank. Hydraulic parameter estimates obtained from simple statistical averages, inverse procedures, and a stochastic theory were compared to effective retention and hydraulic conductivity characteristics measured for the whole tank at steady state. The applicability of the effective parameter estimates was investigated by comparing transient flow events monitored in the laboratory tank with simulated results based on those estimates. Capillary suction measurements were simulated reasonably well using several straightforward arithmetic and geometric statistical averaging approaches, whereas most averaging approaches simulated too slow a response in the outflow rate. An alternative approach involving a combination of arithmetic and geometric averaging of the measured values more closely simulated the observed relatively fast changes in outflow rate. Generally, the simulations based on the measurements of effective properties performed quite well, indicating that the fundamental concept of effective parameters may be valid for this type of heterogeneous soil system.

Imaging biofilm in porous media using X‐ray computed microtomography

In this study, a new technique for three‐dimensional imaging of biofilm within porous media using X‐ray computed microtomography is presented. Due to the similarity in X‐ray absorption coefficients for the porous media (plastic), biofilm and aqueous phase, an X‐ray contrast agent is required to image biofilm within the experimental matrix using X‐ray computed tomography. The presented technique utilizes a medical suspension of barium sulphate to differentiate between the aqueous phase and the biofilm. Potassium iodide is added to the suspension to aid in delineation between the biofilm and the experimental porous medium. The iodide readily diffuses into the biofilm while the barium sulphate suspension remains in the aqueous phase. This allows for effective differentiation of the three phases within the experimental systems utilized in this study. The behaviour of the two contrast agents, in particular of the barium sulphate, is addressed by comparing two‐dimensional images of biofilm within a pore network obtained by (1) optical visualization and (2) X‐ray absorption radiography. We show that the contrast mixture provides contrast between the biofilm, the aqueous‐phase and the solid‐phase (beads). The imaging method is then applied to two three‐dimensional packed‐bead columns within which biofilm was grown. Examples of reconstructed images are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the method. Limitations and applications of the technique are discussed. A key benefit, associated with the presented method, is that it captures a substantial amount of information regarding the topology of the pore‐scale transport processes. For example, the quantification of changes in porous media effective parameters, such as dispersion or permeability, induced by biofilm growth, is possible using specific upscaling techniques and numerical analysis. We emphasize that the results presented here serve as a first test of this novel approach; issues with accurate segmentation of the images, optimal concentrations of contrast agents and the potential need for use of synchrotron radiation sources need to be addressed before the method can be used for precise quantitative analysis of biofilm geometry in porous media.

Pore-scale displacement mechanisms as a source of hysteresis for two-phase flow in porous media

The macroscopic description of the hysteretic behavior of two-phase flow in porous media remains a challenge. It is not obvious how to represent the underlying pore-scale processes at the Darcy-scale in a consistent way. Darcy-scale thermodynamic models do not completely eliminate hysteresis and our findings indicate that the shape of displacement fronts is an additional source of hysteresis that has not been considered before. This is a shortcoming because effective process behavior such as trapping efficiency of CO2 or oil production during water flooding are directly linked to pore-scale displacement mechanisms with very different front shape such as capillary fingering, flat frontal displacement, or cluster growth. Here we introduce fluid topology, expressed by the Euler characteristic of the nonwetting phase (χn), as a shape measure of displacement fronts. Using two high-quality data sets obtained by fast X-ray tomography, we show that χn is hysteretic between drainage and imbibition and characteristic for the underlying displacement pattern. In a more physical sense, the Euler characteristic can be interpreted as a parameter describing local fluid connectedness. It may provide the closing link between a topological characterization and macroscopic formulations of two-phase immiscible displacement in porous rock. Since fast X-ray tomography is currently becoming a mature technique, we expect a significant growth in high-quality data sets of real time fluid displacement processes in the future. The novel measures of fluid topology presented here have the potential to become standard metrics needed to fully explore them.

Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery in Fractional-Wet Systems: A Pore-Scale Investigation

Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is a technology that could potentially increase the tertiary recovery of oil from mature oil formations. However, the efficacy of this technology in fractional-wet systems is unknown, and the mechanisms involved in oil mobilization therefore need further investigation. Our MEOR strategy consists of the injection of ex situ produced metabolic byproducts produced by Bacillus mojavensis JF-2 (which lower interfacial tension (IFT) via biosurfactant production) into fractional-wet cores containing residual oil. Two different MEOR flooding solutions were tested; one solution contained both microbes and metabolic byproducts while the other contained only the metabolic byproducts. The columns were imaged with X-ray computed microtomography (CMT) after water flooding, and after MEOR, which allowed for the evaluation of the pore-scale processes taking place during MEOR. Results indicate that the larger residual oil blobs and residual oil held under relatively low capillary pressures were the main fractions recovered during MEOR. Residual oil saturation, interfacial curvatures, and oil blob sizes were measured from the CMT images and used to develop a conceptual model for MEOR in fractional-wet systems. Overall, results indicate that MEOR was effective at recovering oil from fractional-wet systems with reported additional oil recovered (AOR) values between 44 and 80%; the highest AOR values were observed in the most oil-wet system.