The Investigation of rheophysical properties of fluid flow in microchannels

Prof. Fuad VELIYEV

Baku Higher oil School, Baku, Azerbaijan
ORCID NO: 0009-0003-3015-318X

PhD candidate Aida ASLANOVA

Baku Higher oil School, Baku, Azerbaijan
aida.soltanova@bhos.edu.az +994515662320

ORCID NO: 0000-0001-7362-615X

ABSTRACT

Microfluidics is one of the new research area in science and technology which refers to
microfabricated fluidic systems using channels with the dimensions of micrometers. Nowadays,
microfluidics attracts more attention and demand due to fast reaction rate, short analysis time and
reduced reagent consumption. Currently, the study of the physics of fluid flow in microchannels
and low-permeable reservoirs is an important scientific task in petroleum industry as well.
The previous experimental studies revealed that a viscous liquid during flow in low-permeable
reservoirs exhibits an anomalous non-Newtonian character, accompanied by a violation of the
linearity of the filtration process, and, consequently, Darcy's law. It was also determined that
starting from a certain critical size of the openness h of the crack, the flow of a Newtonian fluid
behaves as non-Newtonian, with the manifestation of an initial pressure gradient and flow
locking. In this research work, the role of electrokinetic potential on the regulation of the
rheophysical properties of fluid flow in microchannels was experimentally examined. Oil-water
emulsion with the composition of 70% and 30% respectively was used as the working fluid.
Magnetic field is applied to the entrance of the microchannel model to adjust the electrokinetic
potential of the fluid at various openness h. Bingham model is used to evaluate the rheological
parameters of hydrocarbon flow in the absence and presence of a magnetic field in the entrance
of the model. It is established that a reduction in the electrical potential leads to a significant
decrease in the yield shear stress during the fluid flow in the microchannel.

Keywords: microchannel, magnetic field, yield shear stress, electrical potential