Computer Image Processing: A New Tool for Studying Viscous Fingering in Corefloods

Summary Computer image processing technology was used to study the patterns of viscous fingering in laboratory corefloods. The fingering patterns in unstable immiscible corefloods were captured and photographed with the aid of a fluorescent dye. The photographs were digitized and stored as computer image files for subsequent processing. A program was written to count the fingers, to determine their sizes, to compute the sweep efficiencies at the core cross sections, and to determine the frequency contents of the fingering patterns. The frequency contents were used in conjunction with stability theory to estimate the effective interfacial tension (IFT) required for calculating the stability numbers of the floods. Results show that computer image processing technology can be used to study the performance of laboratory corefloods quantitatively.