Using IRIS Explorer to visualize experimental and model results in oil recovery research. (a) Displaying a CT scan of a sand pack. Oil flowing through the pack has caused failure throughout a tubular region (a“wormhole”), outlined by the purple surface. The green surface encloses a region that has been completely emptied of sand. The surfaces are cut away to show the structure. (b) Modelling steam assisted gravity drainage, a method for recovering oil sand through the injection of steam into the upper of two vertically stacked horizontal wells. An isosurface and contours have been used to show the variation of temperature in the chamber; the thickness of the temperature boundary layer is related to the amount of oil which runs down the boundary to the lower well. (c) Simulating a watered-out cold production well. A region of disturbance (yellow isosurface) propagates into the water at the bottom of the well (blue surface), causing the water to flow into the well, thereby excluding the oil. The pressure in a slice through the disturbance is mapped to the color and height of the surface at the top.