Articles | Volume 7, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1059-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/se-7-1059-2016
Research article
 | 
15 Jul 2016
Research article |  | 15 Jul 2016

4-D imaging of sub-second dynamics in pore-scale processes using real-time synchrotron X-ray tomography

Katherine J. Dobson, Sophia B. Coban, Samuel A. McDonald, Joanna N. Walsh, Robert C. Atwood, and Philip J. Withers

Abstract. A variable volume flow cell has been integrated with state-of-the-art ultra-high-speed synchrotron X-ray tomography imaging. The combination allows the first real-time (sub-second) capture of dynamic pore (micron)-scale fluid transport processes in 4-D (3-D + time). With 3-D data volumes acquired at up to 20 Hz, we perform in situ experiments that capture high-frequency pore-scale dynamics in 5–25 mm diameter samples with voxel (3-D equivalent of a pixel) resolutions of 2.5 to 3.8 µm. The data are free from motion artefacts and can be spatially registered or collected in the same orientation, making them suitable for detailed quantitative analysis of the dynamic fluid distribution pathways and processes. The methods presented here are capable of capturing a wide range of high-frequency nonequilibrium pore-scale processes including wetting, dilution, mixing, and reaction phenomena, without sacrificing significant spatial resolution. As well as fast streaming (continuous acquisition) at 20 Hz, they also allow larger-scale and longer-term experimental runs to be sampled intermittently at lower frequency (time-lapse imaging), benefiting from fast image acquisition rates to prevent motion blur in highly dynamic systems. This marks a major technical breakthrough for quantification of high-frequency pore-scale processes: processes that are critical for developing and validating more accurate multiscale flow models through spatially and temporally heterogeneous pore networks.

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Short summary
State-of-the-art synchrotron x-ray imaging was used to observe micron scale transport processes in real time. The 20 Hz 3-D image acquisition rates give experimental data free from motion artefacts, and suitable for detailed quantitative analysis of the dynamic fluid distribution, flow pathways and processes. The method marks a major breakthrough in our ability to capture both sub-second and lower frequency non-equilibrium process in many geological or engineering systems.