Fluid displacement patterns in porous media-3D pore-network modeling

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Multiphase fluid flow in porous media is found in various areas such as oil and gas recovery, hydrology, geological CO2 sequestration, and soil remediation. The preferential flow channel formed by invading fluid is a critical constraint in those processes. In this study, a three-dimensional pore network model is employed to explore the pore scale characteristics affecting the displacement pattern. A wide range of capillary numbers and viscosity ratios is adopted in a time-dependent two-phase flow simulation. The results show that wider statistical pore size distribution and higher pore connectivity results in higher saturation of the invading fluid for all the three major flow regimes including viscous fingering, capillary fingering and stable displacement. The boundary between stable displacement and capillary fingering regime becomes indiscernible for the networks of uniform statistical pore size distribution and low pore coordination number. The boundary of viscous fingering regime moves to higher viscous numbers (higher logM) as the pore size variation decreases or pore connectivity increases.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages1201-1204
Number of pages4
StatePublished - 2017
Event19th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, ICSMGE 2017 - Seoul, Korea, Republic of
Duration: Sep 17 2017Sep 22 2017

Other

Other19th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, ICSMGE 2017
Country/TerritoryKorea, Republic of
CitySeoul
Period9/17/179/22/17

Keywords

  • Displacement pattern
  • Multiphase fluid flow
  • Pore-network modeling

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology

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