Experimental and modeling study of Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluid flow in pore network micromodels

The in situ rheology of polymeric solutions has been studied experimentally in etched silicon micromodels which are idealizations of porous media. The rectangular channels in these etched networks have dimensions typical of pore sizes in sandstone rocks. Pressure drop/flow rate relations have been measured for water and non-Newtonian hydrolyzed-polyacrylamide (HPAM) solutions in both individual straight rectangular capillaries and in networks of such capillaries. Results from these experiments have been analyzed using pore-scale network modeling incorporating the non-Newtonian fluid mechanics of a Carreau fluid. Quantitative agreement is seen between the experiments and the network calculations in the Newtonian and shear-thinning flow regions demonstrating that the ‘shift factor,’ α, can be calculated a priori. Shear-thickening behavior was observed at higher flow rates in the micromodel experiments as a result of elastic effects becoming important and this remains to be incorporated in the network model.