Miscible Flow & Viscosity in Porous Media — Lesson 6

This lesson covers the concept of flow through porous media, focusing on miscible displacement or miscible flow. It explains how flow occurs in a porous medium and the simultaneous mixing that takes place. The lesson also discusses the complications that can arise and how theories can help understand and characterize parameters of the porous medium. It further explores the dispersion experiment, the behavior of fluids in the porous medium, and the impact of viscosity on the flow. The lesson concludes with a discussion on the issues that can arise when displacing a fluid from a porous medium by injecting another fluid, especially when the viscosities of the two fluids are different.

Video Highlights

00:35 - Discussion on the complications in miscible flow
06:11 - Impact of viscosity on the flow
14:16 - Issues in displacing a fluid from a porous medium

Key Takeaways

- Miscible displacement or miscible flow occurs when a flow takes place in a porous medium and simultaneous mixing happens.
- The dispersion experiment helps to estimate or characterize the porous medium and understand the behavior of fluids in it.
- The viscosity of the fluids plays a significant role in the flow through a porous medium.
- When displacing a fluid from a porous medium by injecting another fluid, issues can arise if the viscosities of the two fluids are different.
- It is preferable to inject a fluid of higher viscosity to avoid viscous instability.