Eur. Phys. J. B 60, 447-462 (2007)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2008-00005-5

Fluid-fluid interaction during miscible and immiscible displacement under ultrasonic waves

University of Alberta, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Mining and Petroleum, 3-112 Markin CNRL-NREF, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2W2, Canada

Corresponding author: ^a tayfun@ualberta.ca

Received: 27 February 2007
Revised: 9 September 2007
Published online: 16 January 2008

Abstract

This paper aims at identifying and analyzing the influence of high-frequency, high-intensity ultrasonic radiation at the interface between immiscible (different types of oils and aqueous solutions) and miscible (different types of oil and solvent) fluids. An extensive set of Hele-Shaw type experiments were performed for several viscosity ratios, and interfacial tension. Fractal analysis techniques were applied to quantify the degree of fingering and branching. This provided a rough assessment of the degree of perturbation generated at the interface when the capillary forces along with the viscous forces are effective. Miscible Hele-Shaw experiments were also presented to isolate the effect of viscous forces. We found that ultrasound acts to stabilize the interfacial front, and that such effect is most pronounced at low viscosity ratios.