Spontaneous imbibition in a porous medium under longitudinal temperature gradients

Abstract

In this work, the influence of a longitudinal temperature gradient on the spontaneous imbibition into a homogeneous porous medium has been analyzed. Theory and experiments done on a permeable rock (Berea sandstone) allow us to show how this gradient modifies the temporal evolution of the averaged imbibition front $h(t)$. Despite the existence of a thermal boundary layer outside the rock, experimental data are in good agreement with the theoretical profiles of $h(t)$.