Pore Scale Modeling of Three-Phase Flow and the Effects of Wettability
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- We develop a pore network model to study three-phase flow in mixed-wet media. Mixed wettability arises in real porous media when oil renders surfaces it comes into contact with oil-wet while water-filled nooks and crannies remain water-wet. The model captures this physically based phenomenon by allowing different wettabilities within equilateral triangular pores. The typical sequence of fluid displacements of primary drainage with surface aging followed by waterflooding and lastly gas injection is simulated.We analyze and find thirteen possible fluid configurations in a single pore for three-phase flow in mixed-wet media. We derive the capillary pressure equations for entry and displacement for the different configurations. We evaluate the range of capillary pressures for the existence of any fluid layers (oil or water). We derive the equations for the fluid saturation of each phase and approximate expressions for the relative permeabilities. We simulate the fluid displacements and study the trends of three-phase relative permeabilities in mixed-wet media using a bundle of tubes with different sizes but constant triangular cross-sections.We model gas injection from different initial oil saturations and show that for most cases, oil remains connected in wetting layers down to low oil saturation with a characteristic layer drainage regime. The only exception is for non-spreading oil in water-wet media. The relative permeability of the phase of intermediate wettability depends on both its own saturation and the initial oil saturation whereas the other relative permeabilities are functions of their own saturations only. The intermediate-wet phase in water-wet, weakly oil-wet and strongly oil-wet media are oil, water and gas respectively. This is contrary to the assumptions in many empirical models that gas is always the most non-wetting phase and that its relative permeability depends on gas saturation only.Therefore, for media that contain regions of different wettabilities, we should expect all relative permeabilities to be functions of their own saturations and the initial oil saturation.This work illustrates the appropriate functional dependencies for three-phase relative permeabilities. Ultimately, the features of three-phase flow and mixed wettability of this simple model should be incorporated into a realistic, complex three-dimensional model which can better predict three-phase relative permeabilities in real media.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Date created | July 1999 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Hui, Mun-Hong |
|---|---|
| Primary advisor | Blunt, Martin J. |
| Degree granting institution | Stanford University, Department of Petroleum Engineering |
Subjects
| Subject | School of Earth Energy & Environmental Sciences |
|---|---|
| Genre | Thesis |
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Preferred citation
- Preferred Citation
- Hui, Mun-Hong. (1999). Pore Scale Modeling of Three-Phase Flow and the Effects of Wettability. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/pk310hf9150
Collection
Master's Theses, Doerr School of Sustainability
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