Search citation statements
Paper Sections
Citation Types
Year Published
Publication Types
Relationship
Authors
Journals
A series of experiments have been performed studying the displacement of water by gas in consolidated porous media at an adverse viscosity ratio of μw/μg = 100, from the perspective of subsurface gas storage. The gas/water relative permeability functions (RPs) produced in the laboratory to model these processes generally use short cores from which the RPs are derived using conventional analysis and assumptions. In this work, we present results that challenge some of these assumptions and bring into question some of the currently used RP functions to design storage scenarios gas/water systems. Using a novel visualization technique, large two-dimensional sandstone slabs are imaged via x-rays during the gas → water unstable drainage processes. Three experiments were carried out evaluating the impact of rate and vertical flow direction. In the bottom-to-top experiments, we observed the rate dependence on the evolution of viscous fingers from an initially stable bank resulting from the effect of capillary dispersion stabilizing the early finger growth. In the case of top-to-bottom displacement, we observe that the combined capillary and gravity forces are not sufficient to fully stabilize the system, although a visible “stable” bank is formed prior to the emergence of the gas fingering instability. Finally, these results are compared to a water → oil drainage carried out under the same conditions and viscosity ratio. The results are then discussed in the context of subsurface gas storage, and recommendations are made for future experiments designed to derive appropriate gas/water RP functions and for upscaling the results from the laboratory to the field.
A series of experiments have been performed studying the displacement of water by gas in consolidated porous media at an adverse viscosity ratio of μw/μg = 100, from the perspective of subsurface gas storage. The gas/water relative permeability functions (RPs) produced in the laboratory to model these processes generally use short cores from which the RPs are derived using conventional analysis and assumptions. In this work, we present results that challenge some of these assumptions and bring into question some of the currently used RP functions to design storage scenarios gas/water systems. Using a novel visualization technique, large two-dimensional sandstone slabs are imaged via x-rays during the gas → water unstable drainage processes. Three experiments were carried out evaluating the impact of rate and vertical flow direction. In the bottom-to-top experiments, we observed the rate dependence on the evolution of viscous fingers from an initially stable bank resulting from the effect of capillary dispersion stabilizing the early finger growth. In the case of top-to-bottom displacement, we observe that the combined capillary and gravity forces are not sufficient to fully stabilize the system, although a visible “stable” bank is formed prior to the emergence of the gas fingering instability. Finally, these results are compared to a water → oil drainage carried out under the same conditions and viscosity ratio. The results are then discussed in the context of subsurface gas storage, and recommendations are made for future experiments designed to derive appropriate gas/water RP functions and for upscaling the results from the laboratory to the field.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.