Electrokinetic Regulation of Fluid Flow in Microchannels

The development of low-permeable hydrocarbon reservoirs is becoming an increasingly urgent task, and therefore, the study of laws of fluid movement in microcracks is a crucial scientific and technical problem. In this book chapter, rheophysical aspects of non-Newtonian behavior of hydraulic systems during flow in thin rectangular channel are considered experimentally. Using the microchannel model, it is established that the nonlinear rheological effect in the fluid flow in micro-slits is mainly caused by the value of the electrokinetic potential of the system, by reducing of which it is possible to significantly weaken the non-Newtonian nature of the fluid. To regulate electrokinetic potential of fluid system, antistatic additives were used; the optimal concentration of which was defined experimentally. Based on the Bingham model, the rheological parameters of fluid flow were estimated at different micro-slit clearances, in the absence and presence of an antistatic additive. It is also established that a reduction in electrical potential of fluid flow leads to a significant decrease in yield shear stress during the fluid flow in the microchannel. The role of electrokinetic potential in Pressure Recovery Curves (PRC) of hydraulic system and oil displacement process by water in the microchannels has also been studied experimentally.