Relative permeability and capillary pressure functions of porous media as related to the displacement growth pattern

Θεοδωροπούλου, Μαρία; Sygouni, Varvara; Karoutsos, V.; Tsakiroglou, Christos D.

doi:10.1016/j.ijmultiphaseflow.2005.06.009

Cited by 50 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Considerable effort has been devoted to studying twophase flow patterns at the length scale of pore-networks, both experimentally [13][14][15][16][17][18] and numerically [19][20][21][22][23][24][25], providing a reliable set of data for the Ca-phase diagram of drainage displacement patterns as introduced by [1]. However, the pore-scale dynamics of fluid interfaces and the mechanisms by means of which they evolve remain poorly understood.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluid Interfaces during Viscous-Dominated Primary Drainage in 2D Micromodels Using Pore-Scale SPH Simulations

Sivanesapillai

Steeb

2018

Geofluids

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We perform pore-scale resolved direct numerical simulations of immiscible two-phase flow in porous media to study the evolution of fluid interfaces. Using a Smoothed-Particle Hydrodynamics approach, we simulate saturation-controlled primary drainage in heterogeneous, partially wettable 2D porous microstructures. While imaging the evolution of fluid interfaces near capillary equilibrium becomes more feasible as fast X-ray tomography techniques mature, imaging methods with suitable temporal resolution for viscous-dominated flow have only recently emerged. In this work, we study viscous fingering and stable displacement processes. During viscous fingering, pore-scale flow fields are reminiscent of Bretherton annular flow, that is, the less viscous phase percolates through the core of a pore-throat forming a hydrodynamic wetting film. Even in simple microstructures wetting films have major impact on the evolution of fluid interfacial area and are observed to give rise to nonnegligible interfacial viscous coupling. Although macroscopically appearing flat, saturation fronts during stable displacement extend over the length of the capillary dispersion zone. While far from the dispersion zone fluid permeation obeys Darcy's law, the interplay of viscous and capillary forces is found to render fluid flow within complex. Here we show that the characteristic length scale of the capillary dispersion zone increases with the heterogeneity of the microstructure.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluid Interfaces during Viscous-Dominated Primary Drainage in 2D Micromodels Using Pore-Scale SPH Simulations

Sivanesapillai

Steeb

2018

Geofluids

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“…This last assumption signifies that a fluid, when not connected in the media, cannot flow through the porous grid, in which case, the relative permeability of this phase is practically negligible. Recently, various experimental studies [6][7][8][9] have used transparent porous media with the purpose of studying the mechanisms at the porous scale. Many of them study liquid-liquid two-phase flow and the particular case of solution gas drive, where the rate of the pressure drop is an important process variable.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Study of Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Flow in Glass Micromodels

et al. 2007

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To estimate the most important flow variables in reservoir engineering, such as the relative permeability, it is required to know with high precision, other variables such as saturation, pressure drop of each phase, and porous media data such as porosity and absolute permeability. In this study, experimental tests were performed inside a glass micromodel using gas-liquid two-phase flow in steady-state conditions. The liquid-phase flow and the pressure drop of the porous media were determined. Additionally, the flow development inside the porous media was visualized using a high-speed video camera system. These pictures were recorded at 500 fps, and they were used to compute the phase saturation and the gas velocity in the glass micromodel. The visualization was performed in three regions of the glass micromodel demonstrating that saturation gradients were not present. The effect of the capillary number was studied over the gas-liquid relative permeability curves and on the flow mechanisms. It was concluded that high flow rates minimize edge effects, that the capillary number modifies the relative permeability values and the flow patterns inside the micromodel, and that the high-speed visualization is an efficient and accurate technique to determine saturation values and to study the flow patterns in transparent porous media such as glass micromodels.

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“…In this approach, an optically transparent flow cell is constructed with a uniform distribution of glass or quartz beads dispersed inside to act as the porous grain structure, and direct visualization of the flow is then performed using optical microscopy techniques [17,18]. Although advances in microfabrication technology allow for the manufacturing of complex pore structures [19], most micromodels used to study multiphase fluid flow through pore media have been done in rectangular pore bodies and throats [16,[20][21][22][23][24][25]. Computer-aided design of microchannels [26,27] can be used to mimic heterogeneous porous media structure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Waterflooding of Surfactant and Polymer Solutions in a Porous Media Micromodel

Yeh

Juárez

2018

Colloids and Interfaces

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Abstract:In this study, we examine microscale waterflooding in a randomly close-packed porous medium. Three different porosities were prepared in a microfluidic platform and saturated with silicone oil. Optical video fluorescence microscopy was used to track the water front as it flowed through the porous packed bed. The degree of water saturation was compared to water containing two different types of chemical modifiers, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), with water in the absence of a surfactant used as a control. Image analysis of our video data yielded saturation curves and calculated fractal dimension, which we used to identify how morphology changed the way in which an invading water phase moved through the porous media. An inverse analysis based on the implicit pressure explicit saturation (IMPES) simulation technique used mobility ratio as an adjustable parameter to fit our experimental saturation curves. The results from our inverse analysis combined with our image analysis show that this platform can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of surfactants or polymers as additives for enhancing the transport of water through an oil-saturated porous medium.

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Relative permeability and capillary pressure functions of porous media as related to the displacement growth pattern

Cited by 50 publications

References 34 publications

Fluid Interfaces during Viscous-Dominated Primary Drainage in 2D Micromodels Using Pore-Scale SPH Simulations

Fluid Interfaces during Viscous-Dominated Primary Drainage in 2D Micromodels Using Pore-Scale SPH Simulations

Experimental Study of Gas–Liquid Two-Phase Flow in Glass Micromodels

Waterflooding of Surfactant and Polymer Solutions in a Porous Media Micromodel

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