3D Imaging of On-Chip Porous Medium Using X-ray Laminography: Application to Reactive Flow Dissolution at Small Scales

Abstract

In this study, X-ray laminography is used to monitor the evolution of a model 3D packed bed porous medium on a chip (micromodels) undergoing reactive flows. The obtained 3D images are used to compute the fluid flow patterns and develop insights into dissolution mechanisms. This study is a first proof of concept study, with controlled micromodels, and could later be extended towards deeper understanding of the dissolution and precipitation processes occurring in porous media at the microscale, mechanisms which are relevant to many industrial areas including catalysis, geochemistry, energy, and waste storage in deep geological formations, etc.