Characterizing Dissipation in Fluid-Fluid Displacement Using Constant-Rate Spontaneous Imbibition

TitleCharacterizing Dissipation in Fluid-Fluid Displacement Using Constant-Rate Spontaneous Imbibition
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2020
AuthorsPrimkulov, B, Chui, J Y Y, Pahlavan, A A, MacMinn, C W, Juanes, R
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume125
Issue17
Pagination174503 -
Date Published2020/10/23/
Abstract

When one fluid displaces another in a confined environment, some energy is dissipated in the fluid bulk and the rest is dissipated near the contact line. Here we study the relative strengths of these two sources of dissipation with a novel experimental setup: constant-rate spontaneous imbibition experiments, achieved by introducing a viscous oil slug in front of the invading fluid inside a capillary tube. We show that a large fraction of dissipation can take place near the contact line, and rationalize the observations by means of a theoretical analysis of the dynamic contact angles of the front and back menisci of the oil slug. Our results bear important implications for macroscopic descriptions of multiphase flows in microfluidic systems and porous media.

URLhttps://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.174503
Short TitlePRL