Investigating breakup behaviors of the non-Newtonian fluid: A case study of oil droplet using 3-D pore throat structured microchannels

Polymer as non-Newtonian fluids is widely used in oilfield flooding for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The study on the oil droplet behaviors in polymer solution has a remarkable influence for clarifying the EOR mechanism of polymer flooding. In this paper, factors influencing the oil droplet breakup process, including polymer concentration, pore throat structure, elasticity as well as flow rate, were investigated. It was found that the oil droplets were liable to breakup and the average size of daughter droplet decreased by about a quarter as the polymer concentration increased (from 0.01% to 0.5%). A prediction model for the effect of polymer concentration on the length of the first daughter droplet was established. Furthermore, the relationship between polymer concentration and the length of the first daughter droplet was fitted to an exponential function. After excluding the influence of viscosity, it was found that the elastic property of polymer fluid made the oil droplets more likely to breakup when passing through pore throat.