Determining wettablity characteristics of a fluid-fluid-solid sample

1. A method for determining wettability of fluid-fluid-solid systems, the computer-implemented method comprising:

performing, by a measuring device, a scan of a sample of a multi-phase system, wherein a phase defines a structural phase of matter, wherein the sample comprises a first fluid in a liquid phase, a second fluid in a liquid or gas phase, and a solid, wherein the first fluid generating a droplet in the sample;

identifying each phase of the sample;

measuring a three-phase contact line for the sample, wherein the three-phase contact line is along a two-phase interface between the first fluid and the second fluid, a two-phase interface between the first fluid and the second fluid, and a two-phase interface between the second fluid and the solid;

obtaining, by a computing device, one or more figures-of-merit from the sample based at least in part on the three-phase contact line and each of the two-phase interfaces; and

providing, by the computing device, the one or more figures-of-merit from the sample.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising loading a digital file representing a digital tomography of the scan, wherein the digital tomography comprising an image dataset containing a set of voxel arranged in three-dimensional space.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measuring device is a confocal optical microscope, wherein the scan of the sample collects spectroscopic data over one electromagnetic wavelength or a set of electromagnetic wavelengths.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein identifying each phase of the sample comprises:

performing a multi-phase segmentation process of the sample to obtain its three phases; and

labeling each of the three phases of the sample.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising re-performing the scans responsive to not being able to identify each phase in the sample.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the three-phase line further comprises:

calculating two-phase interfaces of the multiple phase system, wherein each of the two-phase interfaces include a set of points between neighboring voxels assigned to each of the three phases;

applying surface meshes between each of the two-phase interfaces;

locating intersections between each of the two-phase interfaces; and

refining the surface meshes.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the one or more figures-of-merit for the sample comprise a contact angle, a droplet volume, and an absorption energy that are based at least in part on the measured three-phase contact line, wherein the three-phase contact line is defined as a set of points and line segments that belong to each of the surface meshes representing the two-phase interfaces.

8. A system for determining wettability of fluid-fluid-solid systems, the system comprising:

a camera;

a confocal optical microscope coupled to the camera;

a storage medium, the storage medium being coupled to a processor;

the processor configured to:

perform a scan of a sample of a multi-phase system using the confocal optical microscope, wherein a phase defines a structural phase of matter, wherein the sample comprises a first fluid in a liquid phase, a second fluid in a liquid or gas phase, and a solid, wherein the first fluid forms a droplet in the sample;

identify each phase of the sample;

measure a three-phase contact line for the sample, wherein the three-phase contact line is along a two-phase interface between the first fluid and the second fluid, a two-phase interface between the first fluid and the second fluid, and a two-phase interface between the second fluid and the solid;

obtain one or more figures-of-merit from the sample based at least in part on the three-phase contact line and each of the two-phase interfaces; and

provide the one or more figures-of-merit from the sample.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to load a digital file representing a digital tomography of the scan, wherein the digital tomography comprising an image dataset containing a set of voxel arranged in three-dimensional space.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the processor is configured to control the confocal optical microscope to collect spectroscopic data over one electromagnetic wavelength or a set of electromagnetic wavelengths.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein identifying each phase of the sample comprises the processor configured to:

perform a multi-phase segmentation process of the sample to obtain three phases; and

label each of the three phases of the sample.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to re-perform the scans responsive to not being able to identify each phase in the sample.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein determining the three-phase line further comprises the processor being configured to:

calculate two-phases interfaces of the multiple phase system, wherein each of the two-phase interfaces include a set of points between neighboring voxels assigned to each of the three phases;

apply surface meshes between each of the two-phase interfaces;

locate intersections between each of the two-phase interfaces; and

refine the surface meshes.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the one or more figures-of-merit for of the sample comprise a contact angle, a droplet volume, and an absorption energy that are based at least in part on the measured three-phase contact line, wherein the three-phase contact line is defined as a set of points and line segments that belong to each of the surface meshes representing the two-phase interfaces.

15. A computer program product for determining wettability of fluid-fluid-solid systems, the computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a processor to cause the processor to:

control an optical microscope to perform a scan of a sample of a multi-phase system, wherein a phase defines a structural phase of matter, wherein the sample comprises a first fluid in a liquid phase, a second fluid in a liquid or gas phase, and a solid, wherein the first fluid forms a droplet in the sample;

obtain, using a camera, the scan of the sample;

identify each phase of the sample;

measure a three-phase contact line for the sample, wherein the three-phase contact line is along a two-phase interface between the first fluid and the second fluid, a two-phase interface between the first fluid and the second fluid, and a two-phase interface between the second fluid and the solid;

obtain one or more figures-of-merit from the sample based at least in part on the three-phase contact line and each of the two-phase interfaces; and

provide the one or more figures-of-merit for the sample.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the program instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the processor to load a digital file representing a digital tomography of the scan, wherein the digital tomography comprising an image dataset containing a set of voxel arranged in three-dimensional space.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the program instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the processor to control the optical microscope to collect spectroscopic data over one electromagnetic wavelength or a set of electromagnetic wavelengths.

18. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein identifying each phase of the sample the program instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the processor to:

perform a multi-phase segmentation process of the sample to obtain its three phases;

label each of the three phases of the sample; and

re-perform the scans responsive to not being able to identify each of the three phases in the sample.

19. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein determining the three-phase line the program instructions are further executable by the processor to cause the processor to:

calculate two-phase interfaces of the multiple phase system, wherein each of the two-phase interfaces include a set of points between neighboring voxels assigned to each of the three phases;

apply surface meshes between the each of the two-phase interfaces;

locate intersections between each of the two-phase interfaces; and

refine the surface meshes.

20. The computer program product of claim 19 , wherein the one or more figures-of-merit for the sample comprise a contact angle, a droplet volume, and an absorption energy that are based at least in part on the measured three-phase contact line, wherein the three-phase contact line is defined as a set of points and line segments that belong to each of the surface meshes representing the two-phase interfaces.