Generalized Relative Permeability Coefficients during Steady-State Two-Phase Flow in Porous Media, and Correlation with the Flow Mechanisms

1995 ◽  
pp. 135-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. Avraam ◽  
A. C. Payatakes
2020 ◽  
Vol 146 ◽  
pp. 03002
Author(s):  
Marios S. Valavanides ◽  
Matthieu Mascle ◽  
Souhail Youssef ◽  
Olga Vizika

The phenomenology of steady-state two-phase flow in porous media is recorded in SCAL relative permeability diagrams. Conventionally, relative permeabilities are considered to be functions of saturation. Yet, this has been put into challenge by theoretical, numerical and laboratory studies that have revealed a significant dependency on the flow rates. These studies suggest that relative permeability models should include the functional dependence on flow intensities. Just recently a general form of dependence has been inferred, based on extensive simulations with the DeProF model for steady-state two-phase flows in pore networks. The simulations revealed a systematic dependence of the relative permeabilities on the local flow rate intensities that can be described analytically by a universal scaling functional form of the actual independent variables of the process, namely, the capillary number, Ca, and the flow rate ratio, r. In this work, we present the preliminary results of a systematic laboratory study using a high throughput core-flood experimentation setup, whereby SCAL measurements have been taken on a sandstone core across different flow conditions -spanning 6 orders of magnitude on Ca and r. The scope is to provide a preliminary proof-of-concept, to assess the applicability of the model and validate its specificity. The proposed scaling opens new possibilities in improving SCAL protocols and other important applications, e.g. field scale simulators.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Santanu Sinha ◽  
Magnus Aa. Gjennestad ◽  
Morten Vassvik ◽  
Alex Hansen

We present in detail a set of algorithms for a dynamic pore-network model of immiscible two-phase flow in porous media to carry out fluid displacements in pores. The algorithms are universal for regular and irregular pore networks in two or three dimensions and can be applied to simulate both drainage displacements and steady-state flow. They execute the mixing of incoming fluids at the network nodes, then distribute them to the outgoing links and perform the coalescence of bubbles. Implementing these algorithms in a dynamic pore-network model, we reproduce some of the fundamental results of transient and steady-state two-phase flow in porous media. For drainage displacements, we show that the model can reproduce the flow patterns corresponding to viscous fingering, capillary fingering and stable displacement by varying the capillary number and viscosity ratio. For steady-state flow, we verify non-linear rheological properties and transition to linear Darcy behavior while increasing the flow rate. Finally we verify the relations between seepage velocities of two-phase flow in porous media considering both disordered regular networks and irregular networks reconstructed from real samples.


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