We investigate the convective instability resulting from the dissolution of carbon dioxide (${\mathrm{CO}}_2$) into water in a heterogeneous Hele-Shaw cell utilizing both experimental and numerical approaches. Experiments are conducted in a Hele-Shaw cell with a variable gap width corresponding to a log-normally distributed permeability of variance ${\sigma }_{logK}^2=0.135$. Two mean gaps ($370\mu \mathrm{m}$ and $500\mu \mathrm{m}$) with the same correlation lengths (${\lambda }_x=0.032\mathrm{m}$ and ${\lambda }_z=0.016\mathrm{m}$) are considered. Experiments in homogeneous cells with a constant gap are also performed. The ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$ partial pressure ($P_{{\text{CO}}_2}$) is varied between $12\%\pm 1\%$ (0.12 bar) and $85\%\pm 1\%$ (0.85 bar). The convective patterns are visualized using Bromocresol green. The effect of the heterogeneity on the instability is analyzed through its wavenumber, amplitude, and growth rate. There is a good agreement between the experimental and numerical results. Fingers appear more dispersive and distorted in the heterogeneous media. Heterogeneous cases display a larger instability amplitude, faster growth rate, and smaller dimensionless wavenumber. This reflects that heterogeneity accelerates the instability and the merging of the fingers. A comparison of the autocorrelation function of the fingering patterns and the permeability field shows that heterogeneity increases the dimensionless correlation length of the fingering pattern, which slows down its growth when its size becomes comparable to the heterogeneity.

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• Convection in porous media
• Fingering instability
• Rayleigh-Taylor instability