Spontaneous liquid/liquid displacement in a capillary

Journal Article · Fri Oct 15 04:00:00 EDT 1993 · Journal of Colloid and Interface Science; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1006/jcis.1993.1411· OSTI ID:5865463

Remoortere, P van; Joos, P ^[1]

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1. Univ. Instelling Antwerpen (Belgium). Dept. of Chemistry

Liquid/liquid displacement is of great importance in understanding industrial processes such as enhanced oil recovery. When a two-phase column consisting of paraffin oil and silicon oil is placed in an otherwise air-filled, horizontal glass capillary, the column starts moving spontaneously. Silicon oil displaces paraffin oil, which in its turn displaces air at atmospheric conditions; a stable film of silicon oil is left at the receding silicon oil/air meniscus. The driving force for the motion is the difference in capillary pressure at the free interfaces. However, the column moves considerably more slowly than predicted by the driving forces; it appears that the forces resisting the motion at the moving liquid/liquid/solid line are much larger than one would expect on the basis of the interfacial tension and the viscosities of the two phase system. Some considerations are made on the relationship of the theory of Fowkes to the system. Also, a method for measuring low interfacial tensions between immiscible liquids is proposed.

• OSTI ID: 5865463
• Journal Information: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Colloid and Interface Science; (United States) Vol. 160:2; ISSN 0021-9797; ISSN JCISA5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
CAPILLARY FLOW
ENERGY SOURCES
ENHANCED RECOVERY
FLOW MODELS
FLUID FLOW
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
INTERFACES
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
PETROLEUM
PRESSURE GRADIENTS
SURFACE PROPERTIES
SURFACE TENSION
TWO-PHASE FLOW
VISCOSITY