This thesis focuses on applying microfluidic techniques to analyze two carbon management methods; underground carbon sequestration and enhanced oil recovery. The small scale nature of microfluidic methods enables direct visualization of relevant pore-scale phenomena, enabling elucidation of parameters such as diffusion coefficients and critical compositions. In this work, a microfluidic platform was developed to control a two-phase carbon dioxide (CO2)-water interface for diffusive quantification with fluorescent techniques. It was found that the diffusion coefficient of CO2 in pure water was constant (1.86 [± 0.26] x10-9 m2/s) over a range of pressures. The effects of salinity on diffusivity were also measured in solutions, it was found that the diffusion coefficient varied up to 3 times. A microfluidic technique able to determine the critical composition of a model ternary mixture was also successfully implemented. Results indicate potential application of this approach to minimum miscibility pressure measurements used in enhanced oil recovery.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/33639 |
| Date | 28 November 2012 |
| Creators | Sell, Andrew |
| Contributors | Sinton, David |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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