Issue 14, 2015

Photopatterned oil-reservoir micromodels with tailored wetting properties

Abstract

Micromodels with a simplified porous network that represents geological porous media have been used as experimental test beds for multiphase flow studies in the petroleum industry. We present a new method to fabricate reservoir micromodels with heterogeneous wetting properties. Photopatterned, copolymerized microstructures were fabricated in a bottom-up manner. The use of rationally designed copolymers allowed us to tailor the wetting behavior (oleophilic/phobic) of the structures without requiring additional surface modifications. Using this approach, two separate techniques of constructing microstructures and tailoring their wetting behavior are combined in a simple, single-step ultraviolet lithography process. This microstructuring method is fast, economical, and versatile compared with previous fabrication methods used for multi-phase micromodel experiments. The wetting behaviors of the copolymerized microstructures were quantified and demonstrative oil/water immiscible displacement experiments were conducted.

Graphical abstract: Photopatterned oil-reservoir micromodels with tailored wetting properties

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
09 Marts 2015
Accepted
08 Jūn. 2015
First published
09 Jūn. 2015
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Lab Chip, 2015,15, 3047-3055

Photopatterned oil-reservoir micromodels with tailored wetting properties

H. Lee, S. G. Lee and P. S. Doyle, Lab Chip, 2015, 15, 3047 DOI: 10.1039/C5LC00277J

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