Disconnected Gas Transport in Steady-State Three-Phase Flow

We use high-resolution three-dimensional X-ray microtomography to investigate fluid displacement during steady-state three-phase flow in a cm-sized water-wet sandstone rock sample. The pressure differential across the sample is measured which enables the determination of relative permeability; capillary pressure is also estimated from the interfacial curvature. Though the measured relative permeabilities are consistent, to within experimental uncertainty, with values obtained without imaging on larger samples, we discover a unique flow dynamics. The most non-wetting phase (gas) is disconnected across the system: gas flows by periodically opening critical flow pathways in intermediate-sized pores. While this phenomenon has been observed in two-phase flow, here it is significant at low flow rates, where capillary forces dominate at the pore-scale. Gas movement proceeds in a series of double and multiple displacement events. Implications for the design of three-phase flow processes and current empirical models are discussed: the traditional conceptualization of three-phase dynamics based on analogies to two-phase flow vastly over-estimates the connectivity and flow potential of the gas phase.