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Pore Scale Modeling of Rate Effects in Imbibition

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Abstract

We use pore scale network modeling to study the effects of flow rate and contact angle on imbibition relative permeabilities. The model accounts for flow in wetting layers that occupy roughness or crevices in the pore space. Viscous forces are accounted for by solving for the wetting phase pressure and assuming a fixed conductance in wetting layers. Three-dimensional simulations model granular media, whereas two-dimensional runs represent fracture flow.

We identify five generic types of displacement pattern as we vary capillary number, contact angle, and initial wetting phase saturation: flat frontal advance, dendritic frontal advance, bond percolation, compact cluster growth, and ramified cluster growth. Using phase diagrams we quantify the range of physical properties under which each regime is observed. The work explains apparently inconsistent experimental measurements of relative permeability in granular media and fractures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, 73019, U.S.A., e-mail

    Richard G. Hughes

  2. T.H. Huxley School of Environment, Earth Sciences and Engineering, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, London, SW7 2BP, England

    Martin J. Blunt

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  1. Richard G. Hughes
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Hughes, R.G., Blunt, M.J. Pore Scale Modeling of Rate Effects in Imbibition. Transport in Porous Media 40, 295–322 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006629019153

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