Automated labeling and segmentation based on segment anything model: Quantitative analysis of bubbles in gas–liquid flow

The quantitative analysis of dispersed phases (bubbles, droplets, and particles) in multiphase flow systems represents a persistent technological challenge in petroleum engineering applications, including CO₂-enhanced oil recovery, foam flooding, and unconventional reservoir development. Current characterization methods remain constrained by labor-intensive manual workflows and limited dynamic analysis capabilities, particularly for processing large-scale microscopy data and video sequences that capture critical transient behavior like gas cluster migration and droplet coalescence. These limitations hinder the establishment of robust correlations between pore-scale flow patterns and reservoir-scale production performance. This study introduces a novel computer vision framework that integrates foundation models with lightweight neural networks to address these industry challenges. Leveraging the segment anything model's zero-shot learning capability, we developed an automated workflow that achieves an efficiency improvement of approximately 29 times in bubble labeling compared to manual methods while maintaining less than 2% deviation from expert annotations. Engineering-oriented optimization ensures lightweight deployment with 94% segmentation accuracy, while the integrated quantification system precisely resolves gas saturation, shape factors, and interfacial dynamics, parameters critical for optimizing gas injection strategies and predicting phase redistribution patterns. Validated through microfluidic gas–liquid displacement experiments for discontinuous phase segmentation accuracy, this methodology enables precise bubble morphology quantification with broad application potential in multiphase systems, including emulsion droplet dynamics characterization and particle transport behavior analysis. This work bridges the critical gap between pore-scale dynamics characterization and reservoir-scale simulation requirements, providing a foundational framework for intelligent flow diagnostics and predictive modeling in next-generation digital oilfield systems.