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 developed to explain the measured distribution of local velocity. The theoretical predictions of this model agree well with experimental results obtained from the magnetic resonance imaging-based measurements of the spatial variation of velocity of water permeating through Bentheimer and Clashach sandstones. To further verify previous results, we have performed new velocity measurement experiments using an efficient velocity encoded π-echo planar imaging sequence on glass bead phantoms that exhibit more regular pore size distribution than rocks. The results show that velocity distributions in glass bead phantoms also exhibit Gaussian profiles and the linear relationship between the velocity variance and the mean velocity (the Mansfield-Issa equation).