skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Search for: All records

Creators/Authors contains: "Cochard, T."

Note: When clicking on a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, you will be taken to an external site maintained by the publisher. Some full text articles may not yet be available without a charge during the embargo (administrative interval).
What is a DOI Number?

Some links on this page may take you to non-federal websites. Their policies may differ from this site.

  1. We study the formation of oil droplets from an initially trapped large oil ganglion under surfactant flooding, using a microfluidic device consisting of a two-dimensional array of regularly spaced square posts. We observe that above a critical capillary number for oil mobilization, breakage of the ganglion results in the formation of either trapped patches spanning multiple pores or numerous mobile droplets that exit the device at a velocity comparable to the average flooding fluid velocity. These mobile droplets, however, are only observed when above a secondary capillary number threshold. The formation of these droplets is found to involve the simultaneous occurrence of three different passive droplet generation mechanisms where a droplet is formed as it is pulled by perpendicular fluid flow, as it is pulled by co-axial fluid flow, and or as it splits due to collision with a post. Our results show that oil breakthroughs only occur when the oil is in the form of mobile drop- lets, suggesting that droplet formation can be an important condition for the mobility of residual oil in porous media. Additionally, this post-array microfluidic device can be used for the production of monodisperse droplets whose size can be controlled by the spacing of the posts. 
    more » « less