The Effects of Capillary Pressure on Immiscible Displacements in Stratified Porous Media

1981 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshio Yokoyama ◽  
Larry W. Lake
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Capillary Pressure ◽  
Immiscible Displacements

Modeling Two-Phase Flow in Porous Media Including Fluid-Fluid Interfacial Area

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Niessner ◽  
S. Majid Hassanizadeh ◽  
Dustin Crandall
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Capillary Pressure ◽  
Two Phase Flow ◽  
Interfacial Area ◽  
Flow In Porous Media ◽  
Extended Model ◽  
Phase Flow ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Specific Interfacial Area ◽  
Macro Scale

We present a new numerical model for macro-scale two-phase flow in porous media which is based on a physically consistent theory of multi-phase flow. The standard approach for modeling the flow of two fluid phases in a porous medium consists of a continuity equation for each phase, an extended form of Darcy’s law as well as constitutive relationships for relative permeability and capillary pressure. This approach is known to have a number of important shortcomings and, in particular, it does not account for the presence and role of fluid–fluid interfaces. An alternative is to use an extended model which is founded on thermodynamic principles and is physically consistent. In addition to the standard equations, the model uses a balance equation for specific interfacial area. The constitutive relationship for capillary pressure involves not only saturation, but also specific interfacial area. We show how parameters can be obtained for the alternative model using experimental data from a new kind of flow cell and present results of a numerical modeling study.

Foam Flow in Different Pore Systems—Part 2: The Roles of Pore Attributes on the Limiting Capillary Pressure, Trapping Coefficient, and Relative Permeability of Foamed Gas

SPE Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Abdulrauf Rasheed Adebayo
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Capillary Pressure ◽  
Relative Permeability ◽  
Average Pore Size ◽  
Volume Ratio ◽  
Graphical Analysis ◽  
Pore Characteristics ◽  
Average Pore ◽  
Rock Samples ◽  
Foam Properties

Summary The limiting capillary pressure of foam (Pc*) and foam trapping in porous media are pore-scale foam properties that affect foam transport in porous media. They are strongly influenced by the characteristics of rock pores and throats. Because of experimental limitations, these foam properties are difficult to measure at core scale. As a result, our understanding of their relationship with different pore characteristics is limited. In this paper, novel coreflood and graphical analysis techniques were used to measure Pc* and the foam-trapping coefficient (FTC) at core scale. FTC is a new parameter synonymous to Land’s (1968) trapping coefficient, which describes foam-trapping behavior across an entire range of saturation as opposed to a single endpoint trapped saturation. The scalability of these two foam properties with permeability and other pore characteristics [average pore size (PS), average throat size (TS), average aspect ratio (AR), coordination number (CN), surface area/volume ratio, and reservoir-quality index (RQI)] were also investigated. Pore characteristics of 12 different rock samples were measured from 3D pore-network models generated from high-resolution X-raycomputed-microtomography images. The heterogeneity of the rock samples were quantified by the Dykstra-Parsons index (Dysktra and Parsons 1950), while the RQI and J-function methods were used to classify them according to their storage and flow properties. Each of the measured pore characteristics and their combination [combined pore character (CPC)] were then correlated with Pc* and FTC to understand their respective roles. Furthermore, the data points obtained from the graphical analysis of the coreflood data provided the required input data for a mechanistic foam model for relative permeability of foamed gas (Kovscek and Radke 1994). The estimated relative permeability of foamed gas was then used to study foam mobility in the different pore geometries. The overall results showed the following: P c * has strong negative correlations with all pore characteristics except AR, which has a weak positive correlation. P c * has the strongest correlation with RQI, CPC, and permeability; a moderate correlation with CN and TS; and a very weak correlation with PS. Foam trapping has positive correlations with all pore characteristics except AR, which has a negative correlation. Low AR appears to be responsible for significant trapping of foam in high-permeabilityrocks. Low AR favors more foam trapping, while high AR favors trapping of oil and gas during water imbibition in water-wetrocks. Foam trapping appears to have the dominant control on foam mobility.

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