FLUID TRANSPORT IN GLASS-BEADS PHANTOMS - SPATIAL VELOCITY-MEASUREMENTS AND CONFIRMATION OF THE STOCHASTIC-MODEL

A stochastic model of fluid flow in porous rocks has been previously d eveloped to explain the measured distribution of local velocity. The t heoretical predictions of this model agree well with experimental resu lts obtained from the magnetic resonance imaging-based measurements of the spatial variation of velocity of water permeating through Benthei mer and Clashach sandstones. To further verify previous results, we ha ve performed new velocity measurement experiments using an efficient v elocity encoded pi-echo planar imaging sequence on glass bead phantoms that exhibit more regular pore size distribution than rocks. The resu lts show that velocity distributions in glass bead phantoms also exhib it Gaussian profiles and the linear relationship between the velocity variance and the mean velocity (the Mansfield-Issa equation). (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Inc.