EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF DYNAMIC EFFECTS IN

CAPILLARY PRESSURE: FLUID PROPERTY EFFECTS

(Thesis Format: Integrated-Article)

By

GAURAV GOEL

Graduate Program in Engineering Science

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Engineering Science

School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

The University of Western Ontario

London, Ontario, Canada

July, 2010

© Gaurav Goel 2010

 THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO

SCHOOL OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES

CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION

Supervisor Examining Board

Dr. Denis M. O’Carroll Dr. Jason Gerhard

Dr. Julie Q. Shang

Dr. Anand Prakash

The thesis by

Gaurav Goel

Entitled:

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF DYNAMIC EFFECTS IN

CAPILLARY PRESSURE: FLUID PROPERTY EFFECTS

is accepted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the degree of
Master of Engineering Science

Date July 21, 2010

Chair of the Thesis Examination Board

ii
 ABSTRACT

Numerical models have been widely used to simulate multiphase flow in porous media

for a variety of applications (e.g., NAPL migration in subsurface aquifers, carbon

sequestration, agriculture, paper production, petroleum reservoir development). The

capillary pressure-saturation (Pc-Sw) relationship is used as one of important constitutive

relationship in numerical models. Theoretical studies have suggested that the capillary

pressure-saturation relationship should include a damping coefficient or dynamic

coefficient (  ) based on thermodynamic considerations. A literature review suggests that

the magnitude of this dynamic coefficient varies by over three orders of magnitude.

While recent experimental studies have explored the effect of porous medium properties,

effect of domain size, hysteresis and the imposed boundary conditions on the magnitude

of  , there has been no experimental study investigating the impact of fluid properties on

 . This study reports on a series of primary drainage experiments conducted under both

static and dynamic conditions in F70 silica sand. Fluid pairs used included water and

silicone oil with two differing viscosities (used as model non-aqueous phase liquids) in

addition to air. Water saturation and both wetting and non-wetting phase pressures were

measured in a custom built aluminum column using EC-5 probes and tensiometers at

three levels. Results show a strong dependence of the magnitude of dynamic coefficient

on fluid viscosity. This implies that modeling tools used to simulate multiphase flow

should incorporate dynamic effects in capillary pressure along with fluid viscosity.

Key words: Two-phase flow; Non-equilibrium effects; Dynamic coefficient; Subsurface;

Capillary pressure-saturation curves; Porous media; NAPLs, Silicone oil

iii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis work has been an exceptional journey where I have had the chance to work

with an outstanding group of people and I have reinforced the values of teamwork,

perseverance, and sacrifice. There are several people who I would like to show my

appreciation for helping me complete this work.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude and thanks to my supervisor Dr. Denis M.

O’Carroll for his support and guidance all these years. His high expectations and endless

dedication to this project have played a major role in the successful completion of my

work.

Also, I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Jason Gerhard, Dr. Julie Shang

and Dr. Anand Prakash for reviewing my thesis and for their suggestions on improving

my work.

I greatly acknowledge the help and support that I received from my friends, colleagues,

faculty and staff at Western. I would like to thank all RESTORE members who made my

time unforgettable at Western and especially my former co-worker, Geremy, for all his

great suggestions and help on the experimental methods that this work required. Thanks

to Stephanie Drake for her help, advice and formatting this thesis. Many thanks to my

dear colleagues for making the time at the university enjoyable: Hardiljeet, Stephanie

MacPhee, Nikolai, Ian, Chris Kocur, Chris Power, Prabhakar, Andrew, Madiha, Erin,

Tanvir, Paolo, Ahmed, Nizar, Eun Jung, and Ambareen.

iv
I wish to thank all the wonderful people I met in Canada that indirectly contributed to this

work. After my arrival into Canada, I was helped by friends, Rajeev, Rajat, Vishal,

Keshav, Jaya Prakash, and Laxmikant, who helped make me familiar with my new

environment. I would also like to thank members of the IGSA for memorable trips and

party times.

My loving thanks to my sweet wife, Anupam, who has endlessly and patiently supported

me in finishing my study. Without her encouragement and understanding, fulfillment of

this work would have been too difficult. Finally my heartfelt thanks to our parents, family

members, and friends for moral support and encouragement to accomplish this endeavour.

Funding for this project was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research

Council of Canada as well as the Canadian Foundation for Innovation.

v
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE OF EXAMINATION .................................................................................. ii

ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................................... iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................. iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................... vi

LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. viii

LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................ ix

GLOSSARY OF TERMS ..................................................................................................... xi

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Fluid flow in porous media .................................................................................. 1
1.2 Research objectives .............................................................................................. 3
1.3 References ............................................................................................................ 5

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................................. 8
2.1 Multiphase flow .................................................................................................... 9
2.2 Constitutive relationships .................................................................................... 9
2.3 Dynamic capillary pressure-saturation relationship .......................................... 14
2.4 Experimental studies to investigate dynamic effects ........................................... 17
2.5 Fluid viscosity in dynamic effects ....................................................................... 20
2.6 Theoretical explanations behind non-equilibrium effects ................................... 22
2.7 Conclusions ........................................................................................................ 23
2.8 References .......................................................................................................... 24

vi
CHAPTER 3
EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF DYNAMIC EFFECTS IN CAPILLARY
PRESSURE: FLUID PROPERTY EFFECTS ............................................................... 30
3.1 Introduction......................................................................................................... 30
3.2 Materials and Methods ...................................................................................... 35
3.3 Results and Discussion ...................................................................................... 41
3.4 Summary and Conclusion .................................................................................. 60
3.5 References ........................................................................................................... 61

CHAPTER 4
CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................ 66

APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: Measured drainage parameters ............................................................... 68
APPENDIX B: Comparison of dSw/dt vs. time.................................................................. 77
APPENDIX C: Measured capillary pressure-saturation curves ...................................... 83
APPENDIX D: Measured desaturation rate and residual saturation .............................. 85
APPENDIX E: Mobility ratio vs. saturation..................................................................... 86

VITA .................................................................................................................................. 89

vii
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1. Summary of  determined from experimental data ....................................... 20

Table 3.1. Physical properties of fluids @ 20 oC.............................................................. 36

Table 3.2. Summary of oil-water experimental results ..................................................... 43

Table 3.3. Fitted van-Genuchten parameters for different fluid pairs ............................. 52

viii
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1. Static and dynamic boundary conditions (left) and associated Pc-Sw
relationships (right) modified from Manthey (2006) ....................................................... 16

Figure 3.1. Drainage experimental set up [modified from (Camps-Roach, 2008)] ......... 40

Figure 3.2. Mean of measured capillary pressure-saturation curves for static and
dynamic (Pair=135 cm) air-water experiments in addition to those reported by Camps-
Roach et al. (In Press) in the same experimental setup. Error bars indicate 95%
confidence intervals about the mean ................................................................................. 42

Figure 3.3. Measured experimental parameters at levels 1, 2 and 3 for 0.65 cSt Silicone
oil - Water Dynamic Experiment 1 (Pair=85 cm): cumulative outflow, lower boundary
pressure (LB), upper boundary pressure (UB), tensiometric water pressures (W1, W2
and W3), tensiometric oil pressures (NW1, NW2) and saturations (S1, S2 and S3) vs.
time .................................................................................................................................... 45

Figure 3.4. Measured experimental parameters at levels 1, 2 and 3 for 5 cSt Silicone oil
- Water Dynamic Experiment 1 (Pair=85 cm): cumulative outflow, lower boundary
pressure (LB), upper boundary pressure (UB), tensiometric oil pressures (NW1, NW2
and NW3), tensiometric water pressures (W1, W2 and W3) and saturations (S1, S2 and
S3) vs. time ........................................................................................................................ 46

Figure 3.5. a) Mean of all dynamic capillary pressure-saturation experiments and mean
of individual static capillary pressure-saturation experiments and levels, including 95%
C.I. about the mean, b) Mean of individual dynamic capillary pressure-saturation
experiments and levels as well as mean of all static capillary pressure-saturation
experiments, including 95% C.I. about the mean, for 5 cSt Silicone oil - water .............. 49

Figure 3.6. Comparison of the 0.65 cSt oil-water mean static and mean dynamic
capillary pressure-saturation curves. Error bars indicate the 95% confidence intervals
about the mean .................................................................................................................. 50

Figure 3. 7. Comparison of the 5 cSt oil-water mean static and mean dynamic capillary
pressure-saturation curves. Error bars indicate the 95% confidence intervals about the
mean .................................................................................................................................. 51

Figure 3.8. Comparison of the dynamic coefficient (  ) vs. wetting phase saturation (Sw)
for 5 cSt and 0.65 cSt silicone oil-water dynamic experiments (constant air pressure of 85
cm) and air-water dynamic experiments (upper boundary air pressure = 135 cm ) ....... 53

 
Figure 3.9. Normalized dynamic coefficient    for 5 cSt and 0.65 cSt silicone oil-
  eff 

water dynamic experiments and air-water dynamic experiments ..................................... 56

ix
 krw  n
Figure 3.10. Normalized dynamic coefficient  for 5 cSt and 0.65 cSt silicone
krn  w
oil-water dynamic experiments and air-water dynamic experiments using the Brooks-
Corey/Burdine relative permeability relationship ............................................................ 57

Figure 3.11. Dynamic and dynamic capillary number for 5 cSt and 0.65 cSt silicone oil-
water and air-water dynamic experiments ....................................................................... 59

x
 GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Symbol Definition Units

 Damping coefficient kg.m-1.s-1
Pc Capillary pressure cm water
Sw Wetting phase saturation cm3.cm-3
Sn Non-wetting phase saturation cm3.cm-3
kr Relative permeability -
NAPL Non-aqueous phase liquid -
S rw Residual water saturation cm3.cm-3
Pn Non wetting phase pressure cm water
Pw Wetting phase pressure cm water
S weff Effective water saturation cm3.cm-3
Pd Entry pressure ( Brooks and Corey) cm water
c
P dyn Dynamic capillary pressure cm water
c
Pstatic Static capillary pressure cm water
 Porosity cm3.cm-3
k Intrinsic permeability m2
 Pore size distribution coefficient (Brooks and Corey) -
n and m Pore size distribution coefficients (van Genuchten) -
1 Entry pressure related to the van Genuchten kg∙m-1∙s-2

dSw/dt Saturation rate s-1
 Fluid density Kg.m-3
g Gravity m.s-2
n Non-wetting phase viscosity kg.m-1.s-1
w Wetting phase viscosity kg.m-1.s-1
Dy Dynamic number (Manthey et al. 2008) -
DyC Dynamic capillary number (Manthey et al. 2008) -

xi
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

In the past 300-400 years several types of hazardous chemicals have made their way into

subsurface environments due to increased human and industrial activity. One class of

these contaminants is known as non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs). These NAPLs

migrate in the subsurface due to gravitational, viscous and capillary forces (Bedient et al.,

1997). NAPLs can be further subdivided into two categories depending on their specific

gravities i.e. LNAPLs (light non-aqueous phase liquids) and DNAPLs (dense non-

aqueous phase liquids). While LNAPLs are lighter than water, the DNAPLs are heavier

than water. The water table acts as a barrier to further downward migration of LNAPLs

whereas DNAPLs can continue to migrate to significant depths below the water table

(Kueper et al., 2003). These NAPLs can remain in the subsurface for hundreds of years as

their solubility in water is low and can contaminate significant quantities of groundwater.

Their presence in the subsurface is a matter of great concern and has become a significant

environmental and human health threat throughout the world.

1.1 FLUID FLOW IN POROUS MEDIA

Multiphase flow is a common occurrence in porous media through a variety of scenarios

(e.g., NAPL migration in subsurface aquifers, carbon sequestration, agriculture, paper

production, petroleum reservoir development). It occurs when two or more immiscible

1
fluids flow in the same pore space simultaneously. Limited information related to

microscale geometry as well as limited computational power hinder our ability to fully

conceptualize and simulate multiphase flow problems (Culligan et al., 2006). A detailed

understanding of two-phase flow processes, where NAPL and water are simultaneously

present within the porous media, is essential for the remediation of NAPLs. Equations

describing two-phase flow in porous media are derived using conservation of mass and

momentum equations which are then coupled to fluid and porous media dependent

constitutive equations (Celia et al., 1990; Dahle et al., 2005; Manthey et al., 2005;

O'Carroll et al., 2005; Das et al., 2007). Relative permeability-saturation (kr-Sw) and

capillary pressure-saturation (Pc-Sw) constitutive relationships are used to describe the

complex interplay of capillary, gravitational and viscous forces and are specific to fluids

and porous medium properties.

The capillary pressure (Pc) - saturation (Sw) relationship has been studied for nearly 100

years in the agriculture and petroleum sectors however its application to groundwater

contamination is relatively new (Abriola et al., 1988). Traditionally Pc has been

considered to be a unique function of Sw with the exception of hysteresis or flow

direction dependence. However a large body of literature (Topp et al., 1967; Smiles et al.,

1971; Stauffer, 1978; Kalaydjian, 1992; Wildenschild et al., 2001; Hassanizadeh et al.,

2002; O'Carroll et al., 2005; Oung et al., 2005; Manthey, 2006; Bottero et al., 2006;

Schembre et al., 2006; Bottero, 2009; Sakaki et al., 2010; Camps-Roach et al., in press)

involving experimental, modeling and theoretical studies suggest that this relationship is

non-unique and depends on the rate of saturation change in addition to the flow direction

2
dependence. This dependence on saturation rate change has been identified as ‘Dynamic

effects’, ‘Non-equilibrium effects’ or ‘Transient effects’ in capillary pressure. Studies

have (Stauffer, 1978; Kalaydjian, 1992; Hassanizadeh et al., 1993; Barenblatt et al., 2003)

proposed an extension of the Pc-Sw relationship to include boundary condition

dependence or saturation rate dependence. One relationship is described as (Hassanizadeh

et al., 2002):

 S 
c
Pdyn  Pn  Pw  Pstatic
c
   (1.0)
 t 

c
Where, Pdyn [kg∙m-1∙s-2] is phase pressure difference measured under dynamic conditions

or non-equilibrium conditions, Pn [kg∙m-1∙s-2] is non-wetting phase pressure, Pw

[kg∙m-1∙s-2] is wetting phase pressure, Pstatic

c
[kg∙m-1∙s-2] is the capillary pressure measured

S -1
under static conditions or equilibrium conditions, [s ] is the desaturation rate, and 
t

[kg∙m-1∙s-1] is the damping coefficient or material coefficient or dynamic coefficient.

1.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Literature studies suggest that the magnitude of the damping coefficient   is a function

of both fluid and porous medium properties (Hassanizadeh et al., 2002; Das et al., 2007;

Joekar-Niasar et al., 2010; Sakaki et al., 2010; Camps-Roach et al., in press). Some

studies also suggest that microscale heterogeneities/lenses and saturation also impact the

magnitude of the damping coefficient. Although studies have systematically investigated

the effect of porous medium properties on the magnitude of   (Sakaki et al., 2010;

3
Camps-Roach et al., in press) no experimental study has assessed the impact of fluid

properties on the magnitude of   . This study investigates the impact of fluid properties

(i.e., viscosity) on non-equilibrium effects in capillary pressure. Two-phase flow

experiments were conducted in air-water and silicone oil-water systems with silica sand

as the representative porous media. All experiments were performed without the use of

the membranes. It has been suggested that the presence of membranes in experimental

systems may influence measured Pc-Sw relationships (Hassanizadeh et al., 2002; Bottero

et al., 2006; Bottero, 2009). Furthermore in field/real world applications membranes are

not typically present.

The specific objectives of this thesis are:

 To determine the dependence of the capillary pressures/saturation relationship on

boundary condition/saturation rate for silicone oils with differing viscosity.

 To determine the magnitude of the damping coefficient   .

 To investigate the effect of fluid viscosity ratio on the magnitude of the damping

coefficient   .

 To determine the dependence of   on wetting fluid saturation (Sw).

4
1.3 REFERENCES

Abriola, L.M. and Pinder, G.F., 1988. Multiphase flow and transport models for organic
chemicals: a review and assessment, EPRI EA-5976, Project 2377-5. Electric Power
Research Institute, Palo Alto.

Barenblatt, G.I., Patzek, T.W. and Silin, D.B., 2003. The mathematical model of nonequilibrium
effects in water-oil displacement. SPE Journal, 8(4): 409-416.

Bedient, P.B., Rifai, H.S. and Newell, C.J., 1997. Ground Water Contamination : Transport and
Remediation. Prentice Hall PTR, New Jersey.

Bottero, S., 2009. Advances in the Theory of Capillarity in Porous media, Utrecht university, 201
pp.

Bottero, S., Hassanizadeh, S.M., Kleingeld, P.J. and Bezuijen, A., 2006. Experimental Study of
Dynamic Capillary Pressure Effects in Two-Phase Flow in Porous Media, XVI
International Conference on Computational Methods in Water Resources. www.cmwr-
xvi.org, Copenhagen, Denmark.

Camps-Roach, G., O’Carroll, D.M., Newson, T.A., Sakaki, T. and Illangasekare, T.H., in press.
Experimental investigation of dynamic effects in capillary pressure: Grain size
dependency and upscaling. Water Resour. Res.

Celia, M.A., Bouloutas, E.T. and Zarba, R.L., 1990. A general mass-conservative numerical-
solution for the unsaturated flow equation. Water Resources Research, 26(7): 1483-1496.

Culligan, K.A., Wildenschild, D., Christensen, B.S.B., Gray, W.G. and Rivers, M.L., 2006. Pore-
scale chracteristics of multiphase flow in porous media: A comparison of air-water and
oil-water experiments. Advances in Water Resources, 29 227-238.

Dahle, H.K., Celia, M.A. and Hassanizadeh, S.M., 2005. Bundle-of-tubes model for calculating
dynamic effects in the capillary-pressure-saturation relationship. Transport in Porous
Media, 58(1-2): 5-22.

Das, D.B., Gauldie, R. and Mirzaei, M., 2007. Dynamic effects for two-phase flow in porous
media: Fluid property effects. Aiche Journal, 53(10): 2505-2520.

5
Hassanizadeh, S.M., Celia, M.A. and Dahle, H.K., 2002. Dynamic Effect in the Capillary
Pressure-Saturation Relationship and its Impacts on Unsaturated Flow. Vadose Zone J,
1(1): 38-57.

Hassanizadeh, S.M. and Gray, W.G., 1993. Thermodynamic basis of capillary-pressure in porous-
media. Water Resources Research, 29(10): 3389-3405.

Joekar-Niasar, V. and Hassanizadeh, S.M., 2010. Effect of fluids properties on non-equilibrium

capillarity effects; dynamic pore-network modelling. submitted to Int. Journal of
Multiphase Flow.

Kalaydjian, F.J.-M., 1992. Dynamic Capillary Pressure Curve for Water/Oil Displacement in
Porous Media: Theory vs. Experiment, 67th SPE Annual Technical Conference and
Exhibition. Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc Washington, D.C., pp. 16.

Kueper, B.H., P.Wealthall, G., N.Smith, J.W., S.A.Leharne and Lerner, D.N., 2003. An illustrated
handbook of DNAPL transport and fate in the subsurface. Environment Agency,
Almondsbury, Bristol.

Manthey, S., 2006. Two-phase flow processes with dynamic effect in porous media- parameter
estimation and simulation. Ph D Dissertation Thesis, University of Stuttgart.

Manthey, S., Hassanizadeh, S.M. and Helmig, R., 2005. Macro-scale dynamic effects in
homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media. Transport in Porous Media, 58(1-2):
121-145.

O'Carroll, D.M., Phelan, T.J. and Abriola, L.M., 2005. Exploring dynamic effects in capillary
pressure in multistep outflow experiments. Water Resources Research, 41(11).

Oung, O., Hassanizadeh, S.M. and Bezuijen, A., 2005. Two phase flow experiments in a
geocentrifuge and the significance of dynamic capillary pressure. Journal of Porous
Media, 8(3): 247-257.

Sakaki, T., O’Carroll, D.M. and Illangasekare, T.H., 2010. Dynamic effects in field soil water
retention curves: Direct laboratory quantification of dynamic coefficient for drainage and
wetting cycles. Vadose Zone Journal, 9: 424-437.

Schembre, J.M. and Kovscek, A.R., 2006. Estimation of Dynamic Relative Permeability and
Capillary Pressure from Countercurrent Imbibition Experiments. Transport in Porous
Media, 65: 31–51.

6
Smiles, D.E., Vachaud, G. and Vauclin, M., 1971. A Test of the Uniqueness of the Soil Moisture
Characteristic During Transient, Nonhysteretic Flow of Water in a Rigid Soil. Soil Sci
Soc Am J, 35(4): 534-539.

Stauffer, F., 1978. Time Dependence of the Relations between Capillary Pressure, Water Content
and Conductivity During Drainage of Porous Media, IAHR Symp. on Scale Effects in
Porous Media, Thessaloniki, Greece.

Topp, G.C., Klute, A. and Peters, D.B., 1967. Comparison of Water Content-Pressure Head Data
Obtained by Equilibrium, Steady-State, and Unsteady-State Methods. Soil Sci Soc Am J,
31(3): 312-314.

Wildenschild, D., Hopmans, J.W. and Simunek, J., 2001. Flow rate dependence of soil hydraulic
characteristics. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 65(1): 35-48.

7
 CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

Water is considered to be the most essential part of one’s everyday activities. A recent

report from UNESCO (2009) suggests that groundwater represents 46% of the global

drinking water supply. Groundwater is usually relatively easy to access and of good

quality, making it an attractive water source. Much of the readily available and good

quality groundwater supplies have already been used in many parts of the world. As such

society is now exploring the use of less readily available or poorer quality groundwater.

A World Bank (2007) report suggests that groundwater resource depletion has led to

significant GDP reduction in the Middle East and North Africa. Therefore it is of

paramount importance to preserve the quantity and quality of this important resource.

The introduction of hazardous industrial chemicals to subsurface environments in last few

centuries has contaminated many groundwater sources. Non aqueous phase liquids

(NAPLs) are one class of commonly found contaminants. To assess the extent of

contamination and to design effective subsurface remedial strategies an in-depth

understanding of multiphase flow (i.e. two or more immiscible fluids occupying the same

pore space) is crucial.

8
2.1 MULTIPHASE FLOW

Interest in understanding multiphase flow has increased over the last century due to its

application in many processes. It occurs when two or more immiscible fluids flow

together in permeable media. One important application of multiphase flow theory is

found in the field of sediment transport, where the porous media or the solid particles

move along with the fluids (Bakhtyar et al., 2010). However in many sectors, including

groundwater contamination and remediation, agriculture and petroleum reservoir

development, the porous media is considered to be rigid and immobile. This assumption

of rigidity and immobile porous media simplifies the development of predictive

mathematical models but there are still many challenges related to multiphase flow.

Multiphase flow equations in porous media phase are derived using conservation of mass,

momentum and energy considerations (Dahle et al., 2005; O'Carroll et al., 2005; Das et

al., 2007; Bottero, 2009). These equations are written in terms of fluid phase pressures

and saturations and the system of equations is closed using fluid and porous media

specific constitutive relationships (Dahle et al., 2005; Manthey, 2006; Bottero, 2009).

2.2 CONSTITUTIVE RELATIONSHIPS

Constitutive relationships are critical for the simulation of two-phase flow. The relative

permeability-saturation and capillary pressure-saturation relationships are two important

9
constitutive relationships typically used to solve two-phase flow problems (Miller et al.,

1998; Manthey, 2006).

2.2.1 Relative Permeability-Saturation (kr -Sw) Relationship

Permeability refers to the ability of a permeable media to conduct a single fluid. Darcy's

law, originally developed for single fluid flow, has been extended to two-phase flow

systems considering the sharing of flow paths between different fluids. This extension

assumes that there is no momentum interchange between fluids at interfaces (Whitaker,

1986). Relative permeability refers to the ability of a permeable media to transmit a fluid

when another fluid is present (Gerhard et al., 2003).

Relative permeability-saturation relationships are extremely difficult to measure

experimentally. Therefore, relative permeability is often predicted using experimentally

measured Pc-Sw relationships. As discussed in Gerhard et al. (2003), there are three

categories of kr-Sw constitutive models (i.e., empirical, pore geometry based, and analogy

based) used in the literature. The pore geometry based relative permeability models of

Burdine (1953) and Mualem (1976) are most frequently used to simulate two-phase flow.

Using the Burdine model, relative permeability is given as:

 2  3 
eff  
  
krw  Sw (2.0)

 2  
 
  
krn  (1  S ) (1  S )
eff
w
2 eff
w (2.1)

10
Where, krw and krn [dimensionless] are the relative permeability of wetting and non-

wetting phase respectively, S weff [dimensionless] is the effective water saturation and is

( Sw  Srw )
given by Sweff  , Srw [dimensionless] is residual water saturation, Sw
(1  Srw )

[dimensionless] is water saturation, λ [dimensionless] is the (Brooks et al., 1964)

coefficient which determines the pore size distribution index. Larger values of λ indicate

a narrow distribution of the pore sizes.

Coupling the van Genuchten (1980) capillary pressure-saturation model to the Mualem

(1976) model yields the following relative permeability function:

2
  eff   
1
m

krw  S weff 1  1  S w  m 
  (2.2)
   
 


2m
1   
1


krn  1  S eff
w  2
1  S weff  m  
 
(2.3)
 

Where, m [dimensionless] is a parameter which is related to n (van Genuchten pore size

distribution coefficient)

11
2.2.2 Capillary Pressure-Saturation (Pc -Sw) relationship

Capillarity is easily observed in thin glass tubes. Leonardo da Vinci was the first to

discover capillary action in 1480 (Seth, 2006). The curved interface of a fluid pair in a

capillary tube suggests that for equilibrium of forces a pressure difference exists across

the interface of the wetting and non-wetting fluid. The difference between the non-

wetting phase and wetting phase pressure is defined as capillary pressure (Pc) (Kalaydjian,

1992). A force balance at the meniscus between the two fluids yields the Laplace-Young

equation (Bear, 1979).

2 wnCos
Pn  Pw  Pc  (2.4)
R

Where, Pc [kg∙m-1∙s-2] is the capillary pressure or the difference between the non-wetting

fluid pressure Pn and wetting fluid pressure Pw, R [m] represents the capillary tube radius

 [degree] is the contact angle between the meniscus and the solid surface measured

through the wetting phase,  wn [ kg. s-2] is the interfacial tension between the wetting and

non-wetting phase.

The Laplace-Young equation suggests that at equilibrium the capillary pressure can be

given as the difference between non-wetting and wetting phase pressures. Conventionally

this definition of capillary pressure, derived using a single capillary, has been used to

define the capillary pressure in porous media at the Darcy scale or larger. Literature

studies suggest that capillary pressure (Pc) is empirically related to water saturation (Sw)

12
in porous media. The relationships given by van Genuchten (1980) and Brooks et al.

(1964) are commonly used to model the relationship between capillary pressure and

saturation.

Using Brooks et al. (1964) model the capillary pressure is given as:

Pc  Pd Sw

eff 1
  (2.5)

Where, Pd [kg∙m-1∙s-2] denotes the entry pressure. It signifies the pressure required by the

non-wetting phase to penetrate the largest pore size.

The van Genuchten (1980) capillary pressure can be given as:

1
1 eff  1 
Pc   S w m  1
n
(2.6)
 

Where, 1 [kg∙m-1∙s-2] is related to the entry pressure, n and m [dimensionless] are pore


size distribution coefficients. Using the relationship given by Burdine (1953) they are

related as  n  and
m  1 2 using the Mualem model (1976) they are related as

 n
m  1 1

The capillary pressure-saturation (Pc-Sw) relationship has been found to depend on both

the history of fluid flow and boundary conditions/rate of saturation change (Hassanizadeh

et al., 2002). The dependence of the Pc-Sw relationship on flow direction is termed

hysteresis. The dependence of the Pc-Sw relationship on boundary conditions or rate of

change of saturation is called dynamic or transient effects.

13
2.3 DYNAMIC CAPILLARY PRESSURE-SATURATION RELATIONSHIP

A number of experimental and theoretical studies in the literature have shown boundary

conditions or rate of change of saturation dependence in the Pc-Sw relationship (Topp et

al., 1967; Smiles et al., 1971; Barenblatt, 1971; Stauffer, 1978; Kalaydjian, 1992;

Wildenschild et al., 2001; Hassanizadeh et al., 2002; Barenblatt et al., 2003; O'Carroll et

al., 2005; Manthey, 2006; Bottero, 2009; Joekar-Niasar et al., 2010a; Sakaki et al., 2010;

Camps-Roach et al., in press). Theoretical studies of Kalaydjian (1992), and

Hassanizadeh et al. (1990; 1993a; 1993b; 2002) developed expressions for the saturation

rate dependence of the Pc-Sw relationship based on thermodynamic considerations.

According to these studies the phase pressure difference and static capillary pressure are

related as follows:

S
Pn  Pw  Pstatic
c
 (2.7)
t
c
Where, Pstatic [kg∙m-1∙s-2] is the capillary pressure measured under static conditions, Pn

[kg∙m-1∙s-2] is non-wetting phase pressure measured at any time, Pw [kg∙m-1∙s-2] is wetting

S
phase pressure measured at any time, [s-1] is the desaturation rate (It is negative on
t

drainage and positive during imbibition),and  [kg∙m-1∙s-1] is the material coefficient or

dynamic coefficient or damping coefficient.

Experiments to determine the Pc-Sw relationship under equilibrium or static conditions are

conducted over long periods of time, (e.g., days or weeks) (O'Carroll et al., 2005; Camps-

Roach et al., in press). More recently the one-step method was developed to rapidly

14
quantify the Pc-Sw relationship (Kool et al., 1985; Parker et al., 1985; van Dam et al.,

1992). Using the one-step method a large pressure step is applied at the beginning of the

experiment creating a large head difference in saturated soil samples, forcing water out

from the sample. The Pc-Sw curve estimated using this method has been found to differ

from that obtained using conventional approaches. This non-uniqueness of the Pc-Sw

relationship has been called the 'dynamic effect', 'transient effect' or ‘non-equilibrium

effect’. As shown in figure 2.1, the Pc-Sw relationship obtained under non-equilibrium or

dynamic conditions differs from the equilibrium or static relationship. At equilibrium and

under drainage, the area under the capillary pressure-saturation curve represents the

amount of energy needed for the displacement of wetting phase by a non-wetting phase

(Donaldson et al., 2008). As seen from figure 2.1, the distribution of fluids will be

different under dynamic conditions. At the same magnitude of capillary pressure more of

the wetting fluid will be displaced under static conditions than dynamic conditions. The

processes responsible for this non-uniqueness are not yet clear (Barenblatt, 1971;

Kalaydjian, 1992; Friedman, 1999; Wildenschild et al., 2001; Hassanizadeh et al., 2002;

Barenblatt et al., 2003; O'Carroll et al., 2005; Camps-Roach et al., in press; Sakaki et al.,

in press).

15
 0 1

Figure 2.1. Static and dynamic boundary conditions (left) and associated Pc-Sw

relationships (right) modified from Manthey (2006)

Based on a detailed literature review, the value of dynamic coefficient (  ) was estimated

to be in the range of 3 104 to 107 (Hassanizadeh et al., 2002). Assuming that the

dynamic coefficient is positive it can be concluded that under drainage conditions

(decreasing saturation) the dynamic capillary pressure curve will lie higher than those

obtained under static conditions (equation 2.7, figure 2.1). Following the same reasoning,

under wetting or imbibition conditions the static curve will be higher than the dynamic

curves as has been observed in the experimental results of (Smiles et al., 1971; Sakaki et

al., 2010).

Most of the experimental studies in the literature have quantified dynamic effects using

gas (air)-liquid (water) while few studies have explored it using liquid-liquid systems

(Kalaydjian, 1992; Oung et al., 2005; O'Carroll et al., 2005; Bottero et al., 2006; Manthey,

16
2006; Bottero, 2009). These studies are reviewed in the following section with special

focus on liquid-liquid systems.

2.4 EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES TO INVESTIGATE DYNAMIC EFFECTS

To the author’s knowledge Stauffer (1978) was the first to proposed the relationship for

the dynamic or transient effects in capillary pressure. He performed one-dimensional

vertical drainage experiments using air and water as the fluids. Static capillary pressure-

saturation relationships were measured under quasi-steady state. Stauffer observed

differences in static and dynamic capillary pressure, especially at high water saturations.

He reported a maximum desaturation rate (dS/dt) of 0.005 s-1. Focusing on a linear

S
relationship between P c
dyn  Pstatic
c
 and t
he proposed the following empirical

relationship:

2
  Pd 
   (2.8)
k   g 

Where,  [dimensionless] is porosity,  [dimensionless] is a constant, k [m2] is

permeability, μ [kg.m-1.s-1] is fluid viscosity, ρ [kg.m-3] is the fluid density.

This functional form of  has not been extensively studied. Hassanizadeh et al. (2002)

checked the applicability of equation 2.8, in light of other published studies and found

some inconsistencies in the scaling approach. Camps-Roach et al. (in press) found that a

finer sand resulted in larger  values in comparison to coarse sand, consistent with the

17
trend proposed in equation 2.8. However the increase in  predicted by equation 2.8 was

more than those observed by Camps-Roach et al. (in press). Therefore these studies

((Hassanizadeh et al., 2002; Camps-Roach et al., in press) concluded that the empirical

relationship proposed by Stauffer may not be widely applicable and more study is

required. A relationship between  and water saturation is the subject of study in the

literature. Researchers have suggested various forms of this relationship, such as linear

(O'Carroll et al., 2005), and Gaussian relationships (Berentsen et al., 2006). Other studies

(Manthey, 2006; Sakaki et al., in press) suggest that  is not only a function of water

saturation but also a variety of other parameters.

Kalaydjian (1992) conducted imbibition experiments by injecting water at 1 cc/hr, 5 cc/hr

and 15 cc/hr at the lower end of undisturbed limestone and sandstone samples. In the

experiments water replaced oil (dynamic viscosity of 1.49 x 10-3 Pa.s and density of

1032.4 kg/m3). The reported viscosity and density values for water were 1.0437 x 10-3

Pa.s and 757.5 kg/m3 respectively. The slow flow rate experiment (1 cc/hr) was assumed

to represent the static Pc-Sw relationship, while the faster flow rates of 5 cc/hr and 15

cc/hr represented the dynamic  Pdyn

c
 Sw  relationship. The maximum reported rate of

change of saturation was 0.0016 sec-1 and 0.011 sec-1 corresponding to flow rates of 5

cc/hr and 15 cc/hr. They did not report the rate of change of saturation at 1 cc/hr. Results

from these experiments indicated that  was inversely proportional to flow rate and its

magnitude was found to vary from 5.4 x 105 to 2.9 x 106 kg∙m-1∙s-1. A very recent study

by Sakaki et al. (2010) quantified  for a field sand. Sakaki et al. (2010) measured water

pressure and saturation in-situ and calculated  for the slice containing these instruments,

18
avoiding volume averaging. They have reported a maximum desaturation rate of 0.0019

sec-1 and  values in the range of 105-108 kg∙m-1∙s-1 with constant  values in the

saturation range of 0.4 - 0.8. Bottero et al. (2006; 2009) performed transient experiments

using PCE and water. She has suggested that use of hydrophobic and hydrophilic

membranes, commonly used in multiphase flow experiments, may significantly affect the

distribution of fluids inside the soil sample. Therefore she did not use membranes in her

experiments. Bottero et al. (2006) conducted both drainage and imbibition cycles under

transient conditions however she did not perform the static experiments. To compare the

static and dynamic curves and calculate  she used the experimental results of (Oung et

al., 2003), which were conducted using membranes. Using PCE-water and the same

porous media (Oung et al., 2005) examined centrifugally accelerated drainage and

imbibition. While the  values reported by Bottero et al. (2006; 2009) vary from 105-107

kg∙m-1∙s-1, the values of Oung et al. (2005) were found to vary from 104-105 kg∙m-1∙s-1.

Oung et al. (2005) reported values in the range of 10 – 600 kg∙m-1∙s-1 but, as suggested by

Chen (2006), they appear to have a units conversion error in their calculation.

A comparison of  values and observed saturation rates from experimental studies are

given in Table 2.1.

19
 Table 2.1. Summary of  determined from experimental data

Max  range
Study Fluid Porous media observed
(kg.m-1.s-1 )
dS/dt (s-1 )
Stauffer Fine Sand and
Air-water 0.0050 104-105
(1978) Coarse sand
Kalaydjian (a) Lime stone and
Oil-water 0.0110 105-106
(1992) Sand stone
Manthey
PCE-water Fine Sand 0.0280 104-105
(2006)

Oung et al.
PCE-water Fine Sand 0.0337 104-105
(2005)

Bottero et al.
PCE-water Fine Sand 0.0250 105-107
(2006)

Sakaki et al.
Air-water Fine Sand 0.0019 106-107
(2010)
Camps-Roach
Coarse sand and
et al. Air-water 0.0021 104-106
Fine Sand
(in press)
(a)  values taken from (Manthey, 2006)

2.5 FLUID VISCOSITY IN DYNAMIC EFFECTS

The model of Barenblatt and co-workers (Barenblatt, 1971; Barenblatt et al., 2003; Silin

et al., 2004) has been used to investigate dynamic effects for water imbibition in oil

saturated permeable media. They suggest that the rearrangement of fluids at the

microscale takes time however conventional models assume it to instantaneous. To

account for this finite rearrangement time researchers have suggested that fluid properties

(i.e., viscosity) may play an important role in dynamic effects in capillary pressure. At the

microscale, fluid–fluid interfaces tend towards equilibrium between external forces and

20
internal forces acting on the system. Viscosity of fluids impacts the rate at which

 n 
equilibrium is achieved (Dahle et al., 2005). Therefore the viscosity ratio  w  could be
 

important in dynamic effects in capillary pressure and has not been investigated

experimentally.

Relatively few studies (Dahle et al., 2005; Manthey, 2006; Das et al., 2007; Gielen, 2007;

Joekar-Niasar et al., 2010a; Joekar-Niasar et al., 2010b) have investigated the impact of

the viscosity ratio on dynamic effects in capillary pressure numerically. While the studies

of Manthey (2006) and Das et al. (2007) used continuum scale or REV scale models,

others used dynamic pore scale network models. Using REV scale models it was

proposed that the magnitude of  will decrease with increase in viscosity ratio as the

stability of fluid-fluid interfaces will increase (Manthey, 2006; Das et al., 2007). Studies

using dynamic pore scale network models (Dahle et al., 2005; Gielen, 2007; Joekar-

Niasar et al., 2010a; Joekar-Niasar et al., 2010b) however proposed that the magnitude of

 will increase with increase in viscosity ratio. Further Joekar-Niasar et al. (2010a;

2010b) postulate that rearrangement of fluid-fluid interface at the pore scale is a function

of viscosity and larger viscosity ratios will delay the rearrangement process. These

contradictory results generated by continuum scale models and dynamic pore scale

network models has not been investigated experimentally. Therefore the study presented

in this thesis experimentally investigated the effect of viscosity ratio on the magnitude of

.

21
2.6 THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS BEHIND NON-EQUILIBRIUM EFFECTS

Discussions regarding the possible physical processes that are responsible for dynamic

effects are given in some studies (Friedman, 1999; Wildenschild et al., 2001;

Hassanizadeh et al., 2002). Kalaydjian (1992) attributed ‘Haines Jump’ for non-

equilibrium effects. As explained by O’Carroll et al. (2005), these microscale processes

(Haines jumps) are not taken into account while upscaling from the microscale to

macroscale. Imposed boundary conditions (Hassanizadeh et al., 2002; Manthey, 2006),

soil properties (Stauffer, 1978; Manthey, 2006), dynamic contact angle (Friedman, 1999),

fluid properties (Hassanizadeh et al., 2002; Das et al., 2007; Joekar-Niasar et al., 2010a),

air and water entrapment, pore water blockage and air entry value effect (Wildenschild et

al., 2001) and microscale heterogeneities (Hassanizadeh et al., 2002; Das et al., 2004;

Manthey et al., 2005; Mirzaei et al., 2007) have all be suggested as factors contributing to

non-equilibrium effects in capillary pressure. Hassanizadeh et al. (2002) challenged the

arguments related to water entrapment, pore water blockage, air entrapment and dynamic

contact angle effect and these arguments have been supported by a recent experimental

study (Camps-Roach et al., in press). This study (Camps-Roach et al., in press) was

conducted with air-water at the core scale in two different types of sand and reported that

membrane effects, air entrapment, water entrapment, dynamic contact angle and pore

water blockage were not the factors behind dynamic effects. The studies of Sakaki et al.

(in press) and Camps-Roach et al. (in press) have shown that the magnitude of  did not

vary with imposed boundary conditions.

22
Dynamic effects in capillary pressure have been attributed to domain size and upscaling.

The experimental study of Camps-Roach et al. (in press) explored the domain size effect

on the magnitude of  and found that  did not vary with domain size. This is contrary

to the numerical studies of (Dahle et al., 2005; Manthey et al., 2005), as they suggested

that the magnitude of  increases with increase in domain size. Bottero (2009) also

investigated the domain size effect using PCE-water experiments and found that

magnitude of  was an order of magnitude higher when upscaled from the sensor scale

(or local scale) to the column scale. However  did not scale with the square of the

domain size as suggested by Dahle et al. (2005). There may be several reasons for this

discrepancy. Firstly it may be due to the small domain (core scale) size considered in the

experimental study of Camps-Roach et al. (in press). The second reason may be the

inappropriate averaging procedure used in the modeling studies (Dahle et al., 2005;

Manthey et al., 2005). As some studies have suggested (Nordbotten et al., 2007;

Nordbotten et al., 2008; Korteland et al., 2009) typical pressure averaging techniques (the

intrinsic phase-volume average) lead to numerical artefacts, even for single phase

Darcy’s law. Therefore more work is required to find the correct averaging procedure.

2.7 CONCLUSIONS

In a very detailed literature survey conducted over five decades (Hassanizadeh et al.,

2002), the authors have suggested that  is affected by fluid and medium properties as

well as with saturation and microscale heterogeneities. It has also been suggested that the

magnitude of  increases with an increase in domain size (Dahle et al., 2005; Manthey et

23
al., 2005) as well as imposed boundary conditions and it may show dependence on flow

direction (Hassanizadeh et al., 2002). While fewer studies (Sakaki et al., 2010; Camps-

Roach et al., in press) have explored the effect of medium properties, effect of domain

size, and the imposed boundary conditions, there has been no experimental study

investigating the effect of fluid properties. Further work may also be required to check if

 can change spatially and temporally (Hassanizadeh et al., 2002). All these studies have

suggested that non-equilibrium effects are important under dynamic conditions. This

suggests that the dynamic effects should be included in the two-phase flow models

otherwise the model results may lead to erroneous results under transient conditions.

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29
 CHAPTER 3

EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF DYNAMIC EFFECTS IN

CAPILLARY PRESSURE: FLUID PROPERTY EFFECTS

3.1 INTRODUCTION

Subsurface contamination by LNAPLs (light nonaqueous phase liquids) and DNAPLs

(dense nonaqueous phase liquids) is pervasive in industrialized regions due to

inappropriate disposal practices or accidental releases. The capillary pressure-saturation

relationship (hereinafter, also referred to as the Pc–Sw relationship) is a commonly used

constitutive relationship for the simulation of NAPL migration in subsurface systems.

The Pc–Sw relationship is traditionally assumed to be independent of the rate of saturation

change however several experimental studies have reported that the Pc–Sw relationship is

dependent on the rate of change of saturation (e.g., Topp et al., 1967; Smiles et al., 1971;

Stauffer, 1978; Kalaydjian, 1992; Wildenschild et al., 2001; Hassanizadeh et al., 2002;

O'Carroll et al., 2005; Oung et al., 2005; Bottero et al., 2006; Manthey, 2006; Sakaki et

al., 2010; Camps-Roach et al., In Press). This rate dependence has been termed ‘Dynamic

effects’, ‘Non-equilibrium effects’ or ‘Transient effects’ in capillary pressure, and will be

referred to as Pcd  S in this study (Kalaydjian, 1992; Hassanizadeh et al., 2002;

Barenblatt et al., 2003). Use of equilibrium Pc–Sw relationships when simulating

scenarios when fluid saturations change rapidly may result in poor simulation predictions.

As such the inclusion of Pcd  S relationships in numerical simulators should be

considered for accurate prediction of NAPL flow in subsurface systems.

30
The underlying phenomenon responsible for dynamic effects in capillary pressure is an

area of active discussion in the literature and a variety of different phenomenon

responsible for observed effects have been postulated. For example a variety of groups

have suggested that physical processes (e.g., air and water entrapment, pore water

blockage, air entry value effect, dynamic contact angle) are responsible for dynamic

effects in capillary pressure (Friedman, 1999; Wildenschild et al., 2001). Hassanizadeh et

al. (2002) challenged the arguments related to water entrapment, pore water blockage, air

entrapment and dynamic contact angle. One recent core scale air/water experimental

study, conducted using two sands, supports these observations with the minor caveat that

dynamic contact angle alone does not account for observed dynamic effects but could be

a contributing factor (Camps-Roach et al., In Press). Another recent study suggests that

the magnitude of observed dynamic effects is a function of fluid/fluid/solid contact line

friction in addition to fluid viscosities (O’Carroll et al., In Press). Contact line friction is

a function of the equilibrium contact angle, interfacial tension, fluid molecular volume

and the average distance between displacements, the latter two being microscopic scale

quantities. Pcd  S has also been attributed to pore scale processes, such as Haines Jumps

and the finite redistribution time required for fluids to minimize free energy in a pore

space following a perturbation (Barenblatt, 1971; Kalaydjian, 1992; Barenblatt et al.,

2003; O'Carroll et al., 2005). These processes are not included in larger scale, continuum

based conceptual models. Recent studies have used dynamic pore network models to

incorporate pore scale processes (Dahle et al., 2005; Joekar-Niasar et al., 2010; Joekar-

Niasar et al., submitted). These studies found that fluid viscosity plays an important role

in the magnitude of observed dynamic effects. It has also been suggested that the

31
presence of microscale heterogeneities/lenses could be responsible for dynamic effects in

capillary pressure (Hassanizadeh et al., 2002; Manthey et al., 2005; Mirzaei et al., 2007).

Other modeling studies suggest that dynamic effects in capillary pressure result from

averaging of pressures and saturations, and thus domain size (Dahle et al., 2005; Manthey

et al., 2005), however a recent experimental study suggests that observed dynamic effects

are independent of domain size (Camps-Roach et al., In Press). Although a number of

studies have investigated underlying mechanisms leading to dynamic effects in capillary

pressure significant questions remain. While experimental studies have explored the

effect of porous medium properties, domain size, hysteresis and imposed boundary

conditions on dynamic effects in capillary pressure (e.g., Bottero, 2009; Sakaki et al.,

2010; Camps-Roach et al., In Press) no experimental study has investigated the effect of

fluid properties on dynamic effects in capillary pressure.

A variety of mathematical relationships have been proposed to relate fluid phase

pressures to fluid saturation when saturations are changing (e.g., Barenblatt, 1971;

Stauffer, 1978; Hassanizadeh et al., 1990; Kalaydjian, 1992; Silin et al., 2004). Barenblatt

and coworkers proposed that a finite redistribution time is required for fluid

rearrangement, and therefore free energy minimization, in a pore space following a

perturbation (Barenblatt, 1971; Barenblatt et al., 2003; Silin et al., 2004). Their

conceptual model uses fluid saturation at a future time to determine capillary pressure at

the current time when fluid saturations are changing. The model of Hassanizadeh and

Gray (1990; 1991b; 1991a; 1993a; 1993b) and that of Kalaydjian (1992) are based on

thermodynamic considerations with the difference in fluid phase pressures and the

32
capillary pressure measured at equilibrium a linear function of the rate of saturation

change:

dS
 Pn  Pw   Pcs   (3.1)
dt

Where Pn is non-wetting phase pressure, Pw is wetting phase pressure, Pcs is capillary

dS
pressure measured under static or equilibrium conditions, is the rate of change of
dt

saturation and  is a material or damping coefficient. Based on a detailed literature

review,  was estimated to be in the range of 3 104 to 107 kg m-1 s-1 (Hassanizadeh et al.,

2002) which is consistent with values derived from more recent PCE-water and air-water

experiments (O'Carroll et al., 2005; Oung et al., 2005; Bottero et al., 2006; Bottero, 2009;

Sakaki et al., 2010; Camps-Roach et al., In Press). The large range of reported  suggests

that further work is required to develop a deeper understanding of the reasons for these

variations.

The empirical relationship of Stauffer (1978) was developed based on a series of air-

water experiments:

2
  Pd 
   (3.2)
k   g 

Where,  is porosity,  is a constant with value = 0.1, k is intrinsic permeability, μ is

water viscosity, ρ is the water density, g is gravity, Pd and λ are Brooks-Corey model

(1964) parameters. This equation suggests that  is a function of both fluid and porous

medium properties. Given that Equation 3.2 includes the viscosity of only one fluid in a

33
multiphase flow scenario Joekar-Niasar et al. (submitted) recommended that the viscosity

term be replaced with effective viscosity:

eff   n Sn   w Sw (3.3)

Where , µn is viscosity of the non-wetting phase, Sn is saturation of the non-wetting phase,

µw is viscosity of the wetting phase, and Sw is saturation of the wetting phase.

A number of modeling studies have investigated the impact of fluid viscosity on dynamic

effects in capillary pressure (Dahle et al., 2005; Manthey, 2006; Das et al., 2007; Gielen,

2007; Joekar-Niasar et al., 2010; Joekar-Niasar et al., submitted). The studies of

Manthey (2006) and Das et al. (2007) used continuum models where dynamic effects in

capillary pressure were not included in the model governing equations. Dynamic effects

in capillary pressure were thus attributed to upscaling and volume averaging. In the study

 n 
of Das et al. (2007)  increased with decreasing viscosity ratio,  w  , for a portion of
 

the reported saturation range (i.e., 0.2 < Sw < 0.4), and in the study of Manthey (2006)

this trend was observed for the entire saturation range. Das et al. (2007) suggests that

observed dynamic effects, and thus the time for minimization of free energy, is related to

 k n 
the mobility ratio,  rw w  . The studies of Gielen (2007) and Joekar-Niasar et al.
 krn  

(2010; submitted) however, found the opposite trend (i.e.,  increases with viscosity ratio)

using a pore network modeling approach. They employed similar volume averaging

techniques as the aforementioned studies (Manthey, 2006; Das et al., 2007). Joekar-

Niasar et al. (2010; submitted) suggest that larger viscosity ratios increase the time for

34
fluid interface rearrangement following a disturbance and thus lead to larger times for

minimization of free energy (Barenblatt et al., 2003; Joekar-Niasar et al., 2010; Joekar-

Niasar et al., submitted). This review of modeling literature studies suggests that differing

approaches yield conflicting results, neither of which have been confirmed

experimentally.

The goal of this study was to experimentally determine the impact of fluid viscosity and

viscosity ratio on dynamic effects in capillary pressure. A series of primary drainage

experiments were conducted under near-static and dynamic conditions using air or one of

two silicone oils as the non-wetting phase. Water pressure, non-wetting phase pressure

and water saturation were measured at three measurement locations in the same vertical

column. This study first quantified the impact of desaturation rate on measured capillary

pressure-saturation relationships for three water/non-wetting fluid phase pairs. This work

then investigated the impact of fluid viscosities on the material coefficient  .

3.2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

3.2.1 Materials

The porous media used in all experiments was F70 Ottawa sand (Opta Minerals Inc.,

Brantford, Ontario). The F70 sand has a mean grain size of 0.018 cm and a uniformity

index of 1.6. Distilled, de-aired and de-ionized (DI) water was used as the aqueous phase

in all experiments. Silicone oils (polydimethyl-siloxanes, Clearco Products, PA) with two

differing viscosities were used as model non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPL) in addition to

35
air (table 3.1). The selected silicone oils were lighter than water, with similar densities

and interfacial tensions, however their viscosities vary considerably. This facilitated an

assessment of the impact of viscosity ratio on the dynamic effects in capillary pressure.

Table 3.1. Physical properties of fluids @ 20 oC

Interfacial Viscosity ratio

Density Viscosity  n 
Fluid tension with
(kg/m3) (Pa.s)  w
water (N/m)  
Water 999a 1.12 X 10-3 a -- --
Air 1.2b 1.81X10-5 b 0.0681b 0.016
Silicone Oil
761d 4.95 X10-4 d 0.0378 c 0.442
(0.65 cSt)
Silicone Oil
918 d 4.59 X10-3 d 0.0378 c 4.098
(5 cSt)
a (Munson et al., 1990)
b (Chen et al., 1999)
c (Calabrese et al., 1986)
d (Clearco; http://www.clearcoproducts.com)

3.2.2 Experimental Setup

All experiments were conducted in a custom built cylindrical aluminum pressure cell (20

cm long and 10 cm inner diameter). Sets of probes, each comprising of a wetting phase

tensiometer, a non-wetting phase tensiometer (NWPT) and a moisture probe, were

installed at 7 cm, 10 cm and 13 cm from the top of the column. The wetting phase

tensiometer consisted of a ceramic porous cup (0652X03-B1M3, Soil Moisture Corp.,

Santa Barbara, CA. USA) that was attached to a Swagelok fitting connected to a pressure

transducer (FP 2000, Honeywell, Columbus, OH USA). To create the NWPT, ceramic

36
cups were placed in 1 M solution of hydrochloric acid for two hours, rinsed thoroughly

with DI water and then dried at room temperature for approximately 12 hours. The

ceramic cups were then placed in a 2% solution of octedecytrichlorosaline (OTS) (Fisher

Scientific, Ottawa, Ontario) in toluene and shaken for 20 minutes (Lenhard et al., 1987;

Busby et al., 1995; Hopmans et al., 1998). The excess OTS solution was drained and the

cups were rinsed with pure toluene. Finally the OTS treated cups were oven dried for 1.5

hrs at 100 oC before being attached to the Swagelok fittings. Prior to each experiment the

untreated and treated ceramic cups were submerged in the wetting (i.e., water) or non-

wetting fluid (i.e., air or silicone oil), respectively and left in a vacuum chamber for 5 hrs.

This ensured that the pores of the ceramic cups were thoroughly saturated with the

wetting fluid at the beginning of each experiment (Hopmans et al., 1998; Camps-Roach et

al., In Press). Pressure transducers were connected to a datalogger (Model CR 3000,

Campbell Scientific, Logan, Utah) and calibrated with their respective fluid phase prior to

each experiment to ensure measurement precision and accuracy.

Wetting phase saturation was measured using EC-5 soil moisture sensors (Decagon

Devices, WA. USA). These probes measure the dielectric permittivity of the medium

using the capacitance technique (Czarnomski et al., 2005; Sakaki et al., 2010; Camps-

Roach et al., In Press). EC-5 probes were oriented vertically in the column thereby

minimizing the cross-sectional area of the column occupied by the probe to avoid

interference with fluid flow in the column. Previous work suggests that water saturation

is measured over a depth of 1.0 to 1.5 cm using this orientation (Limsuwat et al., 2009;

Sakaki et al., 2010). Previous studies that have utilized EC-5 probes to measure water

37
saturation were conducted in air-water systems. The die-electric constant (ε) of silicone

oil (ε ~ 2.4) (Clearco, 2010) is slightly larger than air (ε = 1) and considerably lower than

water (ε ~ 81.4), thereby providing a considerable die-electric constant contrast. The 2

point sensor specific calibration procedure developed by (Sakaki et al., 2008) and

successfully used by (Camps-Roach et al., In Press) was used to calibrate the EC-5

probes. To do this the EC-5 probe readings were quantified in completely silicone oil and

water saturated columns.

3.2.3 Static and Transient Drainage Experiments

All the experiments were performed without membranes as some studies have suggested

that dynamic effects in capillary pressure could be due to the presence of membranes

(Hassanizadeh et al., 2002; Bottero, 2009). The columns were dry packed and a stainless

steel mesh (0.015 X 0.015 cm pore size) was placed at the lower and upper ends of the

column to hold the sand in place. The pressure cell was flushed with CO2 for 20 minutes

followed by a slow (1 mL/min) upward displacement of the CO2 with distilled, de-

ionized, de-aired water (O'Carroll et al., 2005; Camps-Roach et al., In Press). Water was

flushed for 24 hours through the column before the permeability was quantified using the

constant head method (Klute et al., 1986). Water drainage experiments were initiated by

applying a constant air pressure directly to the upper column boundary or by applying a

constant air pressure above the silicone oil in the NAPL reservoir which was connected to

the upper boundary of the column (figure 3.1). Both air and silicone oil were injected

vertically downwards to avoid flow instabilities (Das et al., 2007; Camps-Roach et al., In

Press). In each experiment, water saturation, water pressure, non-wetting phase pressure

38
and fluid outflow were monitored every 15 seconds. All experiments were conducted at a

controlled temperature of 22°C (± 2°C).

In the static experiments air phase pressure, either applied directly to the upper column

boundary or in the LNAPL reservoir, was increased in small increments (2-3 cm H2O)

with sufficient time before the initiation of subsequent pressure steps for outflow to be

near zero (i.e., an outflow rate of < 0.2 g/hr). This process was repeated until only air or

oil flowed out of the column. Dynamic experiments were conducted by applying a large

air or silicone oil pressure in one step resulting in a rapid rate of change of saturation. An

upper boundary air pressure step of 135 cm was applied in the air-water experiments and

an air pressure of 85 cm was applied to the oil reservoir in the silicone oil-water

experiments.

Three experiments were conducted with air, one static and two dynamic experiments

(upper boundary pressures of 120 cm and 135 cm). Six experiments were conducted with

the 0.65 cSt silicone oil. Two of these experiments were conducted under static or slow

desaturation rates. Four experiments were conducted at a fast desaturation rate, referred

to as dynamic experiments, induced by imposing a constant air pressure of 85 cm H2O

(figure 3.3). For the 5 cSt silicone oil-water, two static and three dynamic experiments

were conducted. Here dynamic experiments were induced by applying a constant air

pressure of 85 cm H2O (same as the 0.65 cSt oil). The recorded parameters i.e.

cumulative outflow, oil and water pressures and water saturation are provided in

Appendix A for all experiments.

39
In approximately half of the dynamic 0.65 cSt oil experiments water entered the oil phase

tensiometer during the experiment and these measurement locations could not be used.

This may have been due to the volatility of this oil.

Figure 3.1. Drainage experimental set up [modified from (Camps-Roach, 2008)]

40
3.3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.3.1 Effect of boundary conditions on measured capillary pressure-saturation

curves

An initial set of static and dynamic air-water experiments were conducted to confirm the

experimental procedure and compare results with those of a published study (Camps-

Roach et al., In Press). Experimental conditions were the same in both studies and results

similar for the static Pc/Sw experiments and dynamic Pc/Sw experiments conducted at

same upper boundary air pressure (i.e., 135 cm water) (figure 3.2). The dynamic Pc/S

experiments were conducted at two upper boundary air pressures (i.e., 120 and 135 cm

water) in this study with the Pc data being lower, at the same water saturation, for the

lower imposed air pressure experiment. These differences, however, are not statistically

different. The static Pc/Sw experiments conducted in this study were terminated prior to

achieving residual water saturation due to a problem with the data acquisition system.

41
 70

60

50
Pc (cm of water)

40

30
Camps-Roach et al. (in press) mean static Pc-S
Camps-Roach et al. (in press) mean dynamic Pc-S (Pair=135 cm water)
20 F 70 mean static Pc-S (3 curves)
F70 mean dynamic Pc-S (Pair = 135 cm water, 3 curves)
F70 mean dynamic Pc-S (Pair = 120 cm water, 3 curves)
10

0
0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00
Sw

Figure 3.2. Mean of measured capillary pressure-saturation curves for static and dynamic

(Pair=135 cm) air-water experiments in addition to those reported by Camps-Roach et al.

(In Press) in the same experimental setup. Error bars indicate 95% confidence intervals

about the mean

42
 Table 3.2. Summary of oil-water experimental results

Total Pore
Porosity Measurement Permeability
Experiment type volume
(ø) level for Pc-Sw of sand (m2)
(cm3)
0.65 cSt oil-water
0.325 1, 2 and 3 1.42 x 10-11 511.5
Static 1
0.65 cSt oil-water
0.324 1, 2 and 3 -- 508.7
Static 2
0.65 cSt oil-water
0.325 1 and 2 -- 509.9
Dynamic 1
-11
0.65 cSt oil-water 1.48 x 10
0.324 1 509.3
Dynamic 2
-11
0.65 cSt oil-water 1.45 x 10
0.325 1 and 3 511.0
Dynamic 3
0.65 cSt oil-water
0.324 2 and 3 1.51 x 10-11 508.4
Dynamic 4
5 cSt oil-water
0.324 1, 2 and 3 -- 509.1
Static 1
5 cSt oil-water
0.327 1, 2 and 3 -- 513.9
Static 2
5 cSt oil-water
0.325 1, 2 and 3 1.49 x 10-11 510.9
Dynamic 1
5 cSt oil-water
0.324 1, 2 and 3 -- 508.9
Dynamic 2
5 cSt oil-water
0.325 1, 2 and 3 1.53 x 10-11 510.6
Dynamic 3
Mean 0.325 -- 1.47 x 10-11 510.2
Normalized 95%
0.16 -- 1.42 0.2
C.I.a

95%C.I .
a
Normalized 95 % C.I.  100
Mean

For the silicone oil-water experiments porosity and permeability were similar, with

normalized 95% confidence intervals of 0.16% and 1.42% for porosity and permeability,

respectively (table 3.2). The static experiments took up to 48 hours to complete whereas the

dynamic experiments were usually completed within two hours, with the dynamic

experiments conducted with the less viscous oil being quicker than those with the higher

43
viscosity oil (e.g, figures 3.3 and 3.4). Following an upper boundary oil phase pressure

increase water pressures increased immediately but quickly dissipated to hydrostatic

pressure conditions before oil breakthrough (appendix A). Oil phase pressure

measurements at the three measurement locations increased monotonically following an

upper boundary oil phase pressure step increase but the response time was longer than the

response time for the water phase pressure tensiometers. Following oil breakthrough at

the lower column boundary both water and oil phase pressures at all levels fluctuated.

Outflow rates were maximum immediately after the pressure step and plateaued with

time. At breakthrough the slope of cumulative outflow with time changes due to the

lower specific gravity of oil, when compared to water. Water saturation decreased

sequentially from level 1 through 3 suggesting stable displacement of water in the column.

In some instances EC-5 moisture probes water saturation values were larger than 100%

immediately at the initiation of the experiment. However this increase was relatively

small, with an observed maximum increase of 3%.

44
 Outflow
500 (g)

W1
450 100

W2
400

Pressure (cm H2O) or % Saturation

W3
80
350
Lower
Cumulative Outflow (g)

300 Boundary
Water
60 S1%
250
S2%
200
40 S3%
150
UB
100
20
NW1

50
NW2

0 0
air
0.00 0.10 0.20 0.30 0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90

Time (hrs)

Figure 3.3. Measured experimental parameters at levels 1, 2 and 3 for 0.65 cSt Silicone

oil - Water Dynamic Experiment 1 (Pair=85 cm): cumulative outflow, lower boundary

pressure (LB), upper boundary pressure (UB), tensiometric water pressures (W1, W2 and

W3), tensiometric oil pressures (NW1, NW2) and saturations (S1, S2 and S3) vs. time

45
 Outflow
(g)

500 W1

100 W2
450

Pressure (cm H2O) or % Saturation

W3
400

80 Lower
Cumulative Outflow (g)

350 Boundary
Water
S1%
300
60 S2%
250
S3%
200
40 UB
150
NW1
100
20
NW2
50
NW3

0 0
air
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00
Time (hrs)

Figure 3.4. Measured experimental parameters at levels 1, 2 and 3 for 5 cSt Silicone oil -

Water Dynamic Experiment 1 (Pair=85 cm): cumulative outflow, lower boundary

pressure (LB), upper boundary pressure (UB), tensiometric oil pressures (NW1, NW2

and NW3), tensiometric water pressures (W1, W2 and W3) and saturations (S1, S2 and

S3) vs. time

The capillary pressure-saturation curves obtained for both oils under similar experimental

conditions (i.e., static or dynamic) are similar (e.g., figure 3.5). In all cases the capillary

pressure-saturation curves measured under dynamic primary drainage conditions are

consistently higher those measured under static primary drainage conditions. This is

consistent with previous air-water experimental studies (Sakaki et al., 2010; Camps-

Roach et al., In Press) in addition to the theoretical development of dynamic effects in

46
capillary pressure (Hassanizadeh et al., 1990; Kalaydjian, 1992; Hassanizadeh et al.,

1993a; Hassanizadeh et al., 1993b; Hassanizadeh et al., 2002) and empirical relationships

(Stauffer, 1978; Barenblatt et al., 2003). It was possible to quantify confidence intervals

for the individual capillary pressure-saturation experiments, particularly for the static

experiments, since measurements were logged at 15 second intervals for the entire

experiment. As such a large number of capillary pressure-saturation data points were

obtained. In general the confidence intervals were quite small (i.e., < 0.2 cm water) for

these experiments.

A series of tests were conducted to quantify any lag in device measurement times as this

could be important in the quantification of dynamic effects in capillary pressure. In the

first test the column was completely filled with 0.65 cSt silicone oil (i.e., no sand) with

the pores of the non-wetting phase ceramic cups and Teflon-FEP tubing connecting the

cups to the pressure transducers completely saturated with silicone oil. When the oil was

pressurized the pressure transducers responded to 90% of their steady state value within

45 seconds (results not shown). This delayed response time could be due to the finite

time for pressure to be transferred through the ceramic cups or due to the compressibility

of the oil. An additional set of tests were conducted to evaluate wetting and non-wetting

phase tensiometer response times in partially water saturated porous media. In the

partially saturated experiments the water outflow line at the base of the column was

closed, oil pressure was increased and pressure transducer response time monitored at the

three levels as well as at the top and base of the column. Water pressure readings at all

levels increased to more than 60% and 90% of their steady state values in approximately

47
60 and 210 seconds, respectively. The oil pressure readings generally increased to 60%

and 90% of their steady state value in approximately 165 and 400 seconds at all levels,

respectively. Capillary pressure is defined as the oil phase pressure less the water phase

pressure. In these experiments oil phase pressure increased with time, as such if there

was any non-wetting phase tensiometer delay reported capillary pressures would be less

than their actual value. Water phase pressure increased rapidly following an oil phase

boundary pressure step increase and then slowly decreased. As such any delay in wetting

phase tensiometer response time would serve to decrease measured capillary pressure

below its actual value. This sensitivity analysis suggests that any tensiometer delay

would serve to decrease capillary pressure below their actual value (i.e., tensiometer lag

would decrease any dynamic in capillary pressure). For the soil moisture probes a recent

literature study suggests that they respond immediately (i.e., less than 0.5 seconds)

(Sakaki et al., 2010). As such their response time will not impact observed results.

48
a)

b)
Figure 3.5. a) Mean of all dynamic capillary pressure-saturation experiments and mean of
individual static capillary pressure-saturation experiments and levels, including 95% C.I.
about the mean, b) Mean of individual dynamic capillary pressure-saturation experiments
and levels as well as mean of all static capillary pressure-saturation experiments,
including 95% C.I. about the mean, for 5 cSt Silicone oil - water

49
 3.3.2 Determination of 95% confidence interval on capillary pressure-saturation
curves

95% confidence intervals about the mean capillary pressure-saturation curves were

quantified to determine if imposed boundary condition impacted the capillary pressure-

saturation curve (Sakaki et al., 2010; Camps-Roach et al., In Press). Saturation data were

divided into 0.5% and 1% intervals for static experiments and dynamic experiments,

respectively. The mean and 95% confidence interval of measured capillary pressures in

each saturation interval was computed for each experiment type (i.e., static and dynamic).

Figure 3.6. Comparison of the 0.65 cSt oil-water mean static and mean dynamic capillary

pressure-saturation curves. Error bars indicate the 95% confidence intervals about the

mean

50
The mean static and mean dynamic curves were statistically different for both the 0.65

cSt oil-water and 5 cSt oil-water experiments (Figure 3.6 and 3.7). The fitted Brooks-

Corey entry pressure was 24.4 cm H2O for the 5 cSt oil-water static Pc/S experiments and

27.3 cm H2O for the dynamic experiments. Similarly for the 0.65 cSt static oil-water Pc/S

experiments, the entry pressure was 21.3 cm H2O and 24.4 cm H2O for the dynamic

experiments. These differences suggest that the magnitude of the measured Pc/S curves

was dependent on boundary/desaturation conditions consistent with other experimental,

and theoretical studies (Kalaydjian, 1992; Hassanizadeh et al., 1993b; Hassanizadeh et al.,

2002).

Figure 3. 7. Comparison of the 5 cSt oil-water mean static and mean dynamic capillary

pressure-saturation curves. Error bars indicate the 95% confidence intervals about the

mean

51
 Table 3.3. Fitted van-Genuchten parameters for different fluid pairs

Fluid Pairs  (cm-1) n S rw

Air –Water1 1.87 X 10 -2
11 0.15
0.65 cSt Silicone oil-water 3.57 X 10-2 11 0.18
5 cSt Silicone oil-water 3.49 X 10-2 18 0.26
1
(Camps-Roach, 2008)

3.3.3 Determination of dynamic coefficient (  ) and its dependence on wetting fluid

saturation (Sw)

The dynamic coefficient (  ) was calculated using equation 3.1. To do this capillary

pressure, quantified for both static and dynamic conditions, as well as the rate of water

saturation change, was required at a given saturation. The van-Genuchten function (van

Genuchten, 1980) was therefore fitted to mean static Pc–Sw curves for both 0.65 cSt oil-

water and 5 cSt oil-water systems as well as the air-water system. The van Genuchten

function was selected as it closely matched mean static curves (figures 3.6 and 3.7).

Fitted van Genuchten parameters values are given in table 3.3. Static capillary pressure

corresponding to the water saturation at which capillary pressure was quantified in the

dynamic experiments was determined using the van Genuchten model fit. The water

desaturation rate was quantified for each dynamic experiment using a 7 point moving

polynomial smoothing routine (Golay, 1972). The maximum desaturation rate for the 5

cSt oil-water system (9.8 x 10-4 s-1) was smaller than that for the 0.65 cSt oil-water

system (2.9 x 10-3 s-1) as expected due to the viscosity difference. It is important to

distinguish between actual water saturation decreases and decreases due to noise in the

water saturation probes. The stability of the water saturation probes was therefore

assessed at different degrees of saturation when the column was at equilibrium (i.e.,

52
outflow valve was closed). To do this between 120 and 150 water saturations readings

were collected at a given degree of saturation. The maximum 95% confidence interval

about the mean water saturation was 0.12% which was used as the experimental detection

limit of the EC-5 soil moisture probes. If measured water saturation decrease was less

than this detection limit the dynamic coefficient was not quantified.

4.01E+06

5 cSt oil-water

0.65 cSt oil-water

3.01E+06

air-water
tau (kg m-1 s-1)

2.01E+06

1.01E+06

1.00E+04
0.40 0.50 0.60 0.70 0.80 0.90 1.00
Sw
Figure 3.8. Comparison of the dynamic coefficient (  ) vs. wetting phase saturation (Sw)

for 5 cSt and 0.65 cSt silicone oil-water dynamic experiments (constant air pressure of 85

cm) and air-water dynamic experiments (upper boundary air pressure = 135 cm )

53
The dynamic coefficient,  , was averaged over a 2% water saturation interval for a given

fluid pair to facilitate a statistical comparison between dynamic coefficients (figure 3.8).

The magnitude of  for the 5 cSt silicone oil-water system is generally higher than that

for the 0.65 cSt oil-water and air-water systems. This is the first experimental study to

observe that that dynamic coefficient is statistically different for fluid of different

viscosities.  was similar for the air-water and 0.65 cSt oil-water systems above a water

saturation of 50%. In all cases  is constant between 70 and 90% water saturation and

increases as water saturation decreases below 60% for the silicone oil-water systems. For

the 5 cSt oil  varies between 2.74 X106 and 1.2 X 106 kg.m-1.s-1 while for the 0.65 cSt

oil,  varies between 2.16 X 106 and 4.85 X105 kg.m-1.s-1. This range is consistent with

published PCE-water and oil-water studies (Kalaydjian, 1992; Manthey et al., 2005;

O'Carroll et al., 2005; Berentsen et al., 2006; Bottero et al., 2006; Das et al., 2007;

Bottero, 2009; Joekar-Niasar et al., 2010). For example  ranged between 5.4 X 105 and

2.9 X106 kg.m-1.s-1 for 1.44 cSt oil-water experiments in sandstone and limestone

(Kalaydjian, 1992). The permeability of the permeable media in this literature study was

approximately two orders of magnitude smaller than the permeability of the sand used in

this study making direct comparison difficult. Bottero et al. (2006; 2009) and Manthey

(2006) using a similar experimental setup, found that  ranged between 105 to 106 kg.m-
1 -1
.s for PCE-water experiments conducted in a fine sand. Their sand was nearly an order

of magnitude less permeable than the porous media used in this study. These

experimental studies, however, did not investigate the impact of viscosity on the

magnitude of dynamic effects in capillary pressure.

54
As discussed in the introduction the numerical studies of (Manthey, 2006; Das et al.,

2007; Gielen, 2007; Joekar-Niasar et al., 2010) have explored the effect of fluid viscosity

on the magnitude of  and have reported contradictory results . The models used by

(Manthey, 2006; Das et al., 2007) were based on continuum scale modeling, do not

incorporate interfacial dynamics, and attribute observed dynamic effects in capillary

pressure to upscaling. As suggested by Dahle et al. (2005) the viscosity impacts the

fluid-fluid interface and should therefore be included in models. This has been partially

addressed by (Joekar-Niasar et al., 2010; Joekar-Niasar et al., submitted) using a pore

network approach. Their approach implicitly assumes that the equilibrium capillary

pressure-saturation relationship is appropriate at the pore scale under both static and

dynamic conditions. They postulate that rearrangement of fluid-fluid interfaces over their

averaging volume is a function of viscosity and larger viscosity ratios will delay the

rearrangement process. To account for viscosity they normalized the dynamic coefficient

by the effective fluid viscosity. Using this approach the dynamic coefficient quantified

for the three fluid pairs investigated in this study collapsed and were statistically

equivalent for effective water saturations larger than 50%, with values ranging between 5

x 108 and 109 (figure 3.9). Normalization of the dynamic coefficient by the mobility ratio,

as has been suggested by Das et al. (2007), was also assessed using the Brooks-

Corey/Burdine relative permeability model. This normalization procedure did not

collapse dynamic coefficients together and the normalized dynamic coefficients were still

a strong function of saturation (figure 3.10). Use of alternate relative permeability

models did not improve this normalization procedure. Although further work is required

for a broader range of fluid pairs normalization using effective viscosity suggests that

55
normalization approaches may be able to account for some of the range of dynamic

coefficients reported in the literature. For example the Stauffer equation (Stauffer, 1978)

or the Dynamic number (Manthey et al., 2008), modified to account for effective

viscosity as will be discussed in the next section, could be used as starting points. It is

noted that the study of Camps-Roach et al. (In Press) found that the Stauffer equation

(Stauffer, 1978) accounted for the general trend of increased dynamic coefficient with

decreased sand permeability but the magnitude of differences were different.

 
Figure 3.9. Normalized dynamic coefficient    for 5 cSt and 0.65 cSt silicone oil-
 eff 

water dynamic experiments and air-water dynamic experiments

56
 1.00E+08

1.00E+07

1.00E+06
Tau/mobility ratio (kg. m-1. s-1)

1.00E+05

1.00E+04 BC-Burdine (0.65cSt oil)

1.00E+03 BC-Burdine (5cSt oil)

BC-Burdine (air-water)
1.00E+02

1.00E+01
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Sw

krw  n
Figure 3.10. Normalized dynamic coefficient  for 5 cSt and 0.65 cSt silicone
krn  w

oil-water dynamic experiments and air-water dynamic experiments using the Brooks-

Corey/Burdine relative permeability relationship

3.3.4 Estimation of governing forces

In order to assess the relative importance of the forces governing multiphase flow

Manthey et al. (2008) conducted a dimensional analysis of the multiphase flow equations.

The analysis resulted in two important dimensionless parameters, namely the dynamic

number (Dy) and dynamic capillary number (DyC). The Dy refers to the ratio of dynamic

capillary forces to viscous forces while DyC refers to the ratio of dynamic capillary

57
forces to equilibrium capillary forces. These expression have been modified to include

effective viscosity and the dynamic coefficient as a function of water saturation:

k   Sw 
Dy  (3.4)
eff lc2

uc  Sw 
DyC  (3.5)
Pcc lc

Where, µw is viscosity of wetting fluid, lc is characteristic length, uc is characteristic

velocity, Pcc is characteristic capillary pressure

Similar to the approach of Camps-Roach et al. (In Press) lc was taken as distance

between the two prongs of the EC-5 probe, Pcc was taken as the entry pressure and uc/lc

was the maximum observed desaturation rate.

The dynamic number is relatively constant with water saturation as expected given the

discussion related to normalizing the dynamic coefficient by effective viscosity (figure

3.11). The dynamic number generally ranges between 200 and 500 for all systems above

water saturations of 0.5 and then increases with decreasing water saturation. This is in

the range of the dynamic number reported by Camps-Roach et al. (In Press) (Dy = 410)

using the same sand with air and water as the fluids. It should be noted that they used

water viscosity in their calculations and not effective viscosity. The dynamic capillary

numbers range between 1 and 7 and generally increase as water saturation decreases to

below 0.6, as expected given the trend of the dynamic coefficient with decreasing water

58
saturation (figure 3.11). These dynamic numbers are larger than that reported by Camps-

Roach et al. (In Press) (DyC = 1.4). The dynamic capillary pressure number includes a

characteristic velocity term. Here the maximum desaturation rate was used in the

calculations, which is not a function of saturation. Alternatively the desaturation rate that

varies with saturation could be used in these calculations. However this would

essentially be a plot of the difference in capillary pressure (  Pn  Pw   Pcs ), multiplied by

constants, versus water saturation. This analysis suggests that dynamic capillary forces

are larger than both viscous and capillary forces in this experiment. This is expected

given that the experiments were designed to maximize the dynamic capillary forces.

1600 8.0
Dy - 5 cSt oil-water
1400 Dy - 0.65 cSt oil-water 7.0
Dy - air-water
1200 DyC - 5 cSt oil-water 6.0
DyC - 0.65 cSt oil-water

Dynamic Capillary Number

1000 DyC - air-water 5.0
Dynamic Number

800 4.0

600 3.0

400 2.0

200 1.0

0 0.0
0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0
Sw
Figure 3.11. Dynamic and dynamic capillary number for 5 cSt and 0.65 cSt silicone oil-

water and air-water dynamic experiments

59
3.4 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

A number of air-water and oil-water primary drainage experiments were conducted in a

single homogeneous porous media with two silicone oils with different viscosities. The

pressures and saturations of the two immiscible phases were quantified inside the sand

column at three elevations. 95% confidence intervals on Pc–Sw curves confirmed that the

capillary pressure curve measured under dynamic conditions was statistically different

than those obtained under static conditions. Experiments conducted in this study did not

use hydrophobic and hydrophilic membranes as it has been suggested that their presence

may influence the Pc–Sw curve (Bottero et al., 2006; Bottero, 2009).

To the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to experimentally demonstrate that the

dynamic coefficient is statistically different for different fluid viscosities. The dynamic

coefficient generally decreased with non-wetting fluid viscosity (i.e., 5 cSt oil-water,

followed by 0.65 cSt oil-water and finally air-water).  values that were normalized by

effective viscosity (Joekar-Niasar et al., submitted) collapsed to be statistically equivalent

above a water saturation of 50% indicating that normalization approaches may be able to

account for some of the range of dynamic coefficients reported in the literature. The

magnitude of the dynamic coefficient observed in this study is within the range reported

in the literature. Further work is required to investigate additional factors that can

contribute to dynamic effects (interfacial phenomena (i.e. contact angle and wettability),

micro scale heterogeneity and domain size). These results have significant implications

related to simulating NAPL migration as well as assessing the environmental

60
consequences of NAPL contamination. Modeling tools used to simulate multiphase flow

should incorporate dynamic effects in capillary pressure, particularly when fluid

saturations are changing rapidly.

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Porous Media, University of Western Ontario, London.

Chen, J., Hopmans, J.W. and M.E., G., 1999. Parameter Estimation of Two Fluid
Capillary Pressure-Saturation and Permeability Functions. Advances in Water
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Czarnomski, N.G., Moore, T., Pypker, J.L. and Bond, B., 2005. Precision and accuracy of
three alternative instruments for measuring soil water content in two forest soils
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porous media: Fluid property effects. Aiche Journal, 53(10): 2505-2520.

Friedman, S.P., 1999. Dynamic contact angle explanation of flow rate-dependent

saturation-pressure relationships during transient liquid flow in unsaturated
porous media. Journal of Adhesion Science and Technology, 13(12): 1495-1518.

Gielen, T.W.J., 2007. Dynamic effects in two-phase flow in porous media: a pore scale
network approach. Ph D Dissertation Thesis, Delft University of Technology.,
Delft, Netherlands, 183 pp.

Golay, M.J.E., 1972. Smoothing of data by least-squares procedures and by filtering.

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Gray, W.G. and Hassanizadeh, S.M., 1991b. Unsaturated flow theory including
interfacial phenomena. Water Resources Research, 27(8): 1855-1863.

Hassanizadeh, S.M., Celia, M.A. and Dahle, H.K., 2002. Dynamic Effect in the Capillary
Pressure-Saturation Relationship and its Impacts on Unsaturated Flow. Vadose
Zone J, 1(1): 38-57.

Hassanizadeh, S.M. and Gray, W.G., 1990. Mechanics and thermodynamics of

multiphase flow in porous-media including interphase boundaries. Advances in
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Hassanizadeh, S.M. and Gray, W.G., 1993a. Thermodynamic basis of capillary-pressure

in porous-media. Water Resources Research, 29(10): 3389-3405.

Hassanizadeh, S.M. and Gray, W.G., 1993b. Toward an improved description of the
physics of 2-phase flow. Advances in Water Resources, 16(1): 53-67.

Hopmans, J.W., Grismer, M.E. and Chen, J., 1998. Parameter estimation of two-fluid
capillary pressure - saturation and permeability functions, University of California,
Davis.

Joekar-Niasar, V. and Hassanizadeh, S.M., submitted. Effect of fluids properties on non-

equilibrium capillarity effects; dynamic pore-network modelling. submitted to Int.
Journal of Multiphase Flow.

Joekar-Niasar, V., Hassanizadeh, S.M. and Dahle, H.K., 2010. Non-equilibrium effects in
capillarity and interfacial area in two-phase flow : Dynamic pore-network
modelling. Journal of Fluid Mechanics.

Kalaydjian, F.J.-M., 1992. Dynamic Capillary Pressure Curve for Water/Oil

Displacement in Porous Media: Theory vs. Experiment, 67th SPE Annual
Technical Conference and Exhibition. Society of Petroleum Engineers Inc
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Lenhard, R.J. and Parker, J.C., 1987. Measurement and prediction of saturation-pressure
relationships in three-phase porous media systems. J. Contam. Hydrol, 1:407-424.

Limsuwat, A., Sakaki, T. and Illangasekare, T.H., 2009. Experimental quantification of

bulk sampling volume of ECH2O soil moisture sensors. In: J.A. Ramirez (Editor),
Proceedings of the 29th Annual American Geophysical Union Hydrology Days,
Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, pp. 39-45.

Manthey, S., 2006. Two-phase flow processes with dynamic effect in porous media-
parameter estimation and simulation. Ph D Dissertation Thesis, University of
Stuttgart.

Manthey, S., Hassanizadeh, S.M. and Helmig, R., 2005. Macro-scale dynamic effects in
homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media. Transport in Porous Media, 58(1-
2): 121-145.

Manthey, S., Hassanizadeh, S.M., Helmig, R. and Hilfer, R., 2008. Dimensional analysis
of two-phase flow including a rate-dependent capillary pressure-saturation
relationship. Advances in Water Resources, 31(9): 1137-1150.

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relationships for two-phase flow in 3D porous media: Implications of micro-
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John Wiley, Hoboken, N. J.

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of wettability variations on dynamic effects in capillary pressure. Water Resour.
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Sakaki, T., Limsuwat, A., Smits, K.M. and Illangasekare, T.H., 2008. Empirical two-
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water retention curves: Direct laboratory quantification of dynamic coefficient for
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Moisture Characteristic During Transient, Nonhysteretic Flow of Water in a Rigid
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65
 CHAPTER 4

CONCLUSIONS

This thesis explored the effect of a fluid property (i.e. viscosity) on the magnitude of the

dynamic coefficient   in 1D column experiments. In-situ capillary pressure-saturation

(Pc–Sw) primary drainage curves were measured at three levels in the column. Silicone oil,

with two different viscosities (i.e. 0.65 cSt and 5 cSt), and air were used as model non-

wetting fluids and distilled, de-aired and de-ionized (DI) water was selected as the

wetting fluid. Measured static and dynamic Pc–Sw curves were analyzed using the

extended Pc–Sw relationship (Kalaydjian, 1992; Hassanizadeh et al., 2002) and the

following conclusions were drawn:

1) In-situ capillary pressure-saturation (Pc-Sw) curves measured at three respective

levels were found to be reproducible in all oil-water and air-water experiments.

The flow of fluids inside the column was also found to be stable as evident from

sequential desaturation of water from level 1 to level 3. In all primary drainage

experiments the measured dynamic Pc-Sw curves were found to lie higher than the

static Pc-Sw curves, confirming the saturation rate dependence of Pc-Sw curves, as

suggested by extended Pc-Sw relationship. Further analysis using 95% confidence

intervals about the mean Pc-Sw curves showed that dynamic Pc-Sw curves were

statistically different than static Pc-Sw curves at water saturations below 90%.

66
2) Dynamic coefficient (  ) varied with saturation as has been reported in both

experimental and numerical studies. The magnitude of  for 5 cSt silicone oil-

water was generally larger than that for 0.65 cSt oil-water and air-water.  was

relatively constant in the saturation range of 70-90% for both oil-water and air-

water systems.

3) When  was normalized using effective viscosity (Joekar-Niasar et al.,

submitted) it collapsed and values were statistically equivalent for effective water

saturations larger than 50%, with values ranging between 5 x 108 and 109.

Although further work is required for a broader range of fluid pairs this suggests

that normalization approaches may be able to account for some of the range of

dynamic coefficients reported in the literature.

4) The dynamic number (Dy) and dynamic capillary number (DyC) proposed by

(Manthey et al., 2008) was calculated to analyse the governing forces. These

expression have been modified to include effective viscosity and the dynamic

coefficient as a function of water saturation. The dynamic number generally

ranges between 200 and 500 for all systems above water saturations of 0.5 and

then increases with decreasing water saturation. The dynamic capillary numbers

range between 1 and 7 and generally increase as water saturation decreases below

0.6, as expected given the trend of the dynamic coefficient with decreasing water

saturation. This analysis suggests that dynamic capillary forces are larger than

both viscous and capillary forces in this experiment.

67
 APPENDICES

APPENDIX A: Measured drainage parameters

In this appendix all measured parameters for experiments under different boundaray

conditions (i.e. static and dynamic) for 0.65 cSt silicone oil-water and 5 cSt silicone oil-

water systems are presented.

Figure A.1. Measured experimental parameter at levels 1, 2 and 3 for 0.65 cSt Silicone

oil - Water static Experiment 1: cumulative outflow, lower boundary pressure (LB),

upper boundary pressure (UB), tensiometric water pressures (W1, W2 and W3),

tensiometric oil pressures (NW1, NW2, NW3) and saturations (S1, S2 and S3) vs. time

68
Figure A.2. Measured experimental parameter at levels 1, 2 and 3 for 0.65 cSt Silicone

oil - Water static Experiment 2 : cumulative outflow, lower boundary pressure (LB),

upper boundary pressure (UB), tensiometric water pressures (W1, W2 and W3),

tensiometric oil pressures (NW1, NW2, NW3) and saturations (S1, S2 and S3) vs. time

69
Figure A.3. Measured experimental parameter at levels 1, 2 and 3 for 0.65 cSt Silicone

oil - Water dynamic experiment 2 (Pair=85 cm): cumulative outflow, lower boundary

pressure (LB), upper boundary pressure (UB), tensiometric water pressures (W1, W2 and

W3), tensiometric oil pressures (NW1) and saturations (S1, S2 and S3) vs. time

70
Figure A.4. Measured experimental parameter at levels 1, 2 and 3 for 0.65 cSt Silicone

oil - Water dynamic experiment 3 (Pair=85 cm): cumulative outflow, lower boundary

pressure (LB), upper boundary pressure (UB), tensiometric water pressures (W1, W2 and

W3), tensiometric oil pressures (NW1, NW3) and saturations (S1, S2 and S3) vs. time

71
Figure A.5. Measured experimental parameter at levels 1, 2 and 3 for 0.65 cSt Silicone

oil - Water dynamic experiment 4 (Pair=85 cm): cumulative outflow, lower boundary

pressure (LB), upper boundary pressure (UB), tensiometric water pressures (W1, W2 and

W3), tensiometric oil pressures (NW2, NW3) and saturations (S1, S2 and S3) vs. time

72
Figure A.6. Measured experimental parameter at levels 1, 2 and 3 for 5 cSt Silicone oil -

Water static Experiment 1: cumulative outflow, lower boundary pressure (LB), upper

boundary pressure (UB), tensiometric water pressures (W1, W2 and W3), tensiometric

oil pressures (NW1, NW2, NW3) and saturations (S1, S2 and S3) vs. time

73
Figure A.7. Measured experimental parameter at levels 1, 2 and 3 for 5 cSt Silicone oil -

Water static Experiment 2: cumulative outflow, lower boundary pressure (LB), upper

boundary pressure (UB), tensiometric water pressures (W1, W2 and W3), tensiometric

oil pressures (NW1, NW2, NW3) and saturations (S1, S2 and S3) vs. time

74
Figure A.8. Measured experimental parameter at levels 1, 2 and 3 for 5 cSt Silicone oil -

Water dynamic experiment 2: cumulative outflow, lower boundary pressure (LB), upper

boundary pressure (UB), tensiometric water pressures (W1, W2 and W3), tensiometric

oil pressures (NW1, NW2, NW3) and saturations (S1, S2 and S3) vs. time

75
Figure A.9. Measured experimental parameter at levels 1, 2 and 3 for 5 cSt Silicone oil -

Water dynamic experiment 3: cumulative outflow, lower boundary pressure (LB), upper

boundary pressure (UB), tensiometric water pressures (W1, W2 and W3), tensiometric

oil pressures (NW1, NW2, NW3) and saturations (S1, S2 and S3) vs. Time

76
 APPENDIX B: Comparison of dSw/dt vs. time

In this appendix the dSw/dt graphs for a dynamic experiment with 5cSt silicone oil-water

system are shown. A dramatic trend was noticed when the time interval of measurement

was increased. The plots are given here corresponding to time interval of 15, 30, 60, 120,

180 and 240 sec. It can be seen from these plots that dSw/dt converges as time interval is

increased.

Figure B.1. Comparison of dSw/dt vs. time measured at levels 1, 2 and 3 during 5 cSt

Silicone oil - Water dynamic experiment 1. Data points represent dSw/dt calculated from

consecutive saturation readings taken 15 seconds apart (2 point smooth). Solid lines

represent dSw/dt calculated from the 7 point moving polynomial smoothing routine

77
Figure B.2. Comparison of dSw/dt vs. time measured at levels 1, 2 and 3 during 5 cSt

Silicone oil - Water dynamic experiment 1. Data points represent dSw/dt calculated from

consecutive saturation readings taken 30 seconds apart (2 point smooth). Solid lines

represent dSw/dt calculated from the 7 point moving polynomial smoothing routine

78
Figure B.3. Comparison of dSw/dt vs. time measured at levels 1, 2 and 3 during 5 cSt

Silicone oil - Water dynamic experiment 1. Data points represent dSw/dt calculated from

consecutive saturation readings taken 60 seconds apart (2 point smooth). Solid lines

represent dSw/dt calculated from the 7 point moving polynomial smoothing routine

79
Figure B.4. Comparison of dSw/dt vs. time measured at levels 1, 2 and 3 during 5 cSt

Silicone oil - Water dynamic experiment 1. Data points represent dSw/dt calculated from

consecutive saturation readings taken 120 seconds apart (2 point smooth). Solid lines

represent dSw/dt calculated from the 7 point moving polynomial smoothing routine

80
Figure B.5. Comparison of dSw/dt vs. time measured at levels 1, 2 and 3 during 5 cSt

Silicone oil - Water dynamic experiment 1. Data points represent dSw/dt calculated from

consecutive saturation readings taken 180 seconds apart (2 point smooth). Solid lines

represent dSw/dt calculated from the 7 point moving polynomial smoothing routine

81
Figure B.6. Comparison of dSw/dt vs. time measured at levels 1, 2 and 3 during 5 cSt

Silicone oil - Water dynamic experiment 1. Data points represent dSw/dt calculated from

consecutive saturation readings taken 240 seconds apart (2 point smooth). Solid lines

represent dSw/dt calculated from the 7 point moving polynomial smoothing routine

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 APPENDIX C: Measured capillary pressure-saturation

curves

In this appendix all measured mean capillary pressure-saturation curves (i.e. static and

dynamic) for 0.65 cSt silicone oil-water system are presented.

a)

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b)

Figure C.1. a) Mean of all dynamic capillary pressure-saturation experiments and mean

of individual static capillary pressure-saturation experiments and levels, including 95%

C.I. about the mean, b) Mean of individual dynamic capillary pressure-saturation

experiments and levels as well as mean of all static capillary pressure-saturation

experiments, including 95% C.I. about the mean, for 0.65 cSt Silicone oil - water

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 APPENDIX D: Measured desaturation rate and residual saturation

In this appendix all measured maximum desaturation rate and residual saturation for both

0.65 cSt and 5 cSt silicone oil-water system are presented.

Table D.1. Desaturation rate and residual Saturation

for all dynamic experiments with 0.65 cSt silicone oil
Experiment Name dSw/dt Srw
Level 1 1.1103 32.48
0.65 cSt Dynamic 1 Level 2 1.9 103 27.62
Level 3 1.8 103 30.08
Level 1 2.8 103 25.09
0.65 cSt Dynamic 2 Level 2 2.0 103 32.76
Level 3 1.9 103 35.43
Level 1 2.7 103 23.94
0.65 cSt Dynamic 3 Level 2 2.9 103 23.84
Level 3 1.8 103 24.06
Level 1 2.7 103 27.83
0.65 cSt Dynamic 4 Level 2 1.9 103 37.36
Level 3 1.9 103 36.02

Table D.2. Desaturation rate and residual Saturation

for all dynamic experiments with 5 cSt silicone oil
Experiment Name dSw/dt Srw
Level 1 9.5 104 29.21
5 cSt Dynamic 1 Level 2 9.6 104 34.54
Level 3 9.4 104 35.18
Level 1 9.7 104 29.55
5 cSt Dynamic 2 Level 2 9.6 104 33.05
Level 3 9.3 104 34.25
Level 1 9.8 104 25.31
5 cSt Dynamic 3 Level 2 9.6 104 30.20
Level 3 9.3 104 31.04

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 APPENDIX E: Mobility ratio vs. saturation

In this appendix normalized  values using mobility ratio/coefficient has been presented.

 krw  n 
Mobility ratio  w 
was proposed by Das et al. (2007). It was suggested by the
 krn  

authors that stability of the fluid front is related to the mobility ratio. Further it was

suggested that if the value of mobility ratio is more than one then fluid front is stable

otherwise it will be unstable at a given saturation for drainage of porous material. To

understand the impact of mobility ratio, values were divided by mobility ratio and

plotted against water saturation.

Figure E.1. Plot of dynamic coefficient/mobility ratio vs. water saturation for 5 cSt

silicone oil-water system

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Figure E.2. Plot of Dynamic coefficient/Mobility ratio vs. water saturation for 0.65 cSt

silicone oil-water system

Figure E.3. Plot of Dynamic coefficient/Mobility ratio vs. water saturation for air-water

system

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These mobility ratios were calculated using van Genuchten (van Genuchten, 1980) and

Brooks-Corey (Brooks et al., 1964) models in combination with Burdine (Burdine, 1953)

and Mualem (Mualem, 1976) models.

For 5 cSt oil-water system it was found that above a water saturation of 64% these

mobility ratio values were more than one, whereas for 0.65 cSt oil-water system it was

found to above 79% water saturation and for air-water system above 88% water

saturation. These mobility ratio values indicate that for 5 cSt oil-water system the fluid

front was stable for larger water saturation range.

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 VITA

Name: Gaurav Goel

Post-secondary M. E. Sc., 2008-2010

Education and University of Western Ontario,
Degrees: Dept of Civil & Environmental Engineering
London, Ontario, Canada

M. Tech., 2001-2003
National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra
Dept of Civil Engineering
Kurukshetra, Haryana, India

B. Tech., 1999-2001
North Eastern Regional Institute of Science & Technology
Dept of Civil Engineering
Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, India

Related Work Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant (2008-2010)

Experience: The University of Western Ontario

Lecturer (2006-2007)
Department of Civil Engineering
North Eastern Regional Institute of Science & Technology
Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, India

Lecturer (2005-2006)
Department of Civil Engineering
College of Science & Technology, Bhutan

Lecturer (2004-2005)
Department of Civil Engineering
National Institute of Technology Hamirpur
Himachal Pradesh, India

Lecturer (2003-2004)
Department of Civil Engineering
North Eastern Regional Institute of Science & Technology
Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, India

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