Insights on Reactive Flow from Multiscale Experiments
Reactive Flow. Carbonatic rock. Porous Median. Multiscale.
Reactive flow in geological porous media is a significant phenomenon across various fields, such as carbonate
acidizing techniques and geological CO2 storage. Despite experimental advances in this area, several open
questions remain in the literature, particularly regarding the dynamics of reactive fluid propagation through
porous media, the influence of petrophysical properties across different scales (especially at the pore scale),
and the interaction with other fluids present in the porous media during propagation. Therefore, the aim of
this thesis is to analyze reactive flow propagation in porous media at multiple scales (pore, core, and
reservoir), considering the rock's petrophysical properties, specially its wettability. The proposed
methodology involves reactive flow experiments on geological rock samples, initially focusing on wormhole
propagation at low flow rates in the core scale, subsequently evaluating surface area evolution at the pore
scale, and finally analyzing the impact of wettability and oil distribution during reactive flow. X-ray
microtomography will be employed to quantify and analyze the experimental results. The initial phase results
demonstrate a new methodology for conducting low-flow-rate experiments, showing that reactive fluid
propagation in porous media occurs at different velocities due to the disparity between chemical reactions
and mass transport, requiring acid renewal at its initial concentration and leading to the dissolution of the
face and walls of the main channel. The next stages are in progress, but the effectiveness of the applied
methodology in achieving the expected results, with temporally resolved microtomography, is already
evident. With advancements in this methodology and new results, we aim to deepen the understanding of
reactive flow in porous media, contributing to the improvement of carbonate acidizing simulators and new
models for geological storage.