Prediction of time required for onset of convection in a porous medium saturated with oil and a layer of gas underlying the oil

The onset of convection for a viscous oil confined in a cylindrical porous medium and contacted with a gas to diffuse into it from below is investigated experimentally and theoretically. Two experiments are carried out, both at a specific reservoir temperature and pressure, starting with the medium saturated with the oil and bringing the gas into contact with it from the base. In the first experiment, the setup is arranged horizontally in order to determine the diffusion coefficient of gas in the absence of convection. In the second experiment, the setup is vertical to investigate the onset of convection. The pressure is maintained constant during both experiments and the volume of gas dissolving in oil is measured vs. time. The dissolved gas data obtained from the vertical experiment show a sharp slope change at the onset of convection. The observed onset time is in excellent agreement with the value obtained by means of an instability theory developed in this study.