Multiphase flow with a simplified model for oil entrapment

A computationally simple procedure is described to model effects of oil entrapment on three-phase permeability-saturation-capillary pressure relations. The model requires knowledge of airwater saturation-capillary pressure relations, which are assumed to be nonhysteretic and are characterized by Van Genuchten's parametric model; scaling factors equal to the ratio of water surface tension to oil surface tension and to oil-water interfacial tension; and the maximum oil (also referred to as nonwetting liquid in a three-phase medium) saturation which would occur following water flooding of oil saturated soil. Trapped nonwetting liquid saturation is predicted as a function of present oil-water and air-oil capillary pressures and minimum historical water saturation since the occurrence of oil at a given location using an empirically-based algorithm. Oil relative permeability is predicted as a simple function of apparent water saturation (sum of actual water saturation and trapped oil saturation) and free oil saturation (difference between total oil and trapped oil saturation), and water relative permeability is treated as a unique function of actual water saturation. The proposed method was implemented in a two-dimensional finite-element simulator for three-phase flow and component transport, MOFAT. The fluid entrapment model requires minimal additional computational effort and computer storage and is numerically robust. The applicability of the model is illustrated by a number of hypothetical one- and two-dimensional simulations involving infiltration and redistribution with changes in water-table elevations. Results of the simulations indicate that the fraction of a hydrocarbon spill that becomes trapped under given boundary conditions increases as a nonlinear function of the maximum trapped nonwetting liquid saturation. Dense organic liquid plumes may exhibit more pronounced effects of entrapment due to the more dynamic nature of flow, even under static water table conditions. Disregarding nonwetting fluid entrapment may lead to significant errors in predictions of immiscible plume migration.     

Four-Component Gas/Water/Oil Displacements in One Dimension: Part III,Development of Miscibility

The structure of the system of conservation laws in fully compositional three-phase, four-component flow is examined for the first time. Two of the eigenvalues can be found analytically for this flow regime, regardless of the equation of state used to model the phase behavior. A cubic equation of state is used to calculate the gas/oil phase behavior and Henry’s law is used to represent the partitioning of hydrocarbons between the hydrocarbon and water phases. Sample analytical solutions are found for Riemann problems modeling the injection of carbon-dioxide and water into an oil reservoir. Finally, the structure of the solutions at the minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) for the hydrocarbon system is studied. We show that when water is injected simultaneously with gas at the MMP, multicontact miscible displacement of the oil by the injected gas develops only if the fraction of water in the injected fluid is below a critical value. For water fractions above the critical value, water flowing at a high velocity forces the composition path of the solution to remain in the three-phase region in which two hydrocarbon phases are present. We study both condensing and vaporizing gas drives to demonstrate that this result is general.     

Pore-scale network model for drainage-dominated three-phase flow in porous media

Drainage displacements in three-phase flow under strongly wetting conditions are completely described by a simple generalisation of well understood two-phase drainage mechanisms. As in two-phase flow, the sequence of throat invasions in three-phase flow is determined by fluid connectivity and threshold capillary pressure for the invading interface. Flow through wetting and intermediate spreading films is important in determining fluid recoveries and the progress of the displacement in three-phase flow. Viscous pressure drops associated with flow through films give rise to multiple filling and emptying of pores. A three-phase, two-dimensional network model based on the pore-scale fluid distributions and displacement mechanisms reported by Øren et al. and which accounts for flow through both wetting and intermediate fluid films is shown to correctly predict all the important characteristics of three-phase flow observed in glass micromodel experiments.     

An Analysis of Three-Phase Pore Occupancies and Relative Permeabilities in Porous Media with Variable Wettability

In three-phase flow, the macroscopic constitutive relations of capillary pressure and relative permeability as functions of saturation depend in a complex manner on the underlying pore occupancies. These three-phase pore occupancies depend in turn on the interfacial tensions, the pore sizes and the degree of wettability of the pores, as characterised by the cosines of the oil–water contact angles. In this work, a quasi-probabilistic approach is developed to determine three-phase pore occupancies in media where the degree of wettability varies from pore to pore. Given a set of fluid and rock properties, a simple but novel graphical representation is given of the sizes and oil–water contact angles underlying three-phase occupancies for every allowed combination of capillary pressures. The actual phase occupancies are then computed using the contact angle probability density function. Since a completely accessible porous medium is studied, saturations, capillary pressures, and relative permeabilities are uniquely related to the pore occupancies. In empirical models of three-phase relative permeability it is of central importance whether a phase relative permeability depends only on its own saturation and how this relates to the corresponding two-phase relative permeability (if at all). The new graphical representation of pore sizes and wettabilities clearly distinguishes all three-phase pore occupancies with respect to these saturation-dependencies. Different types of saturation-dependencies may occur, which are shown to appear in ternary saturation diagrams of iso-relative permeability curves as well, thus guiding empirical approaches. However, for many saturation combinations three-phase and two-phase relative permeabilities can not be linked. In view of the latter, the present model has been used to demonstrate an approach for three-phase flow modelling on the basis of the underlying pore-scale processes, in which three-phase relative permeabilities are computed only along the actual flow paths. This process-based approach is used to predict an efficient strategy for oil recovery by simultaneous water-alternating-gas (SWAG) injection.     

A Similarity Solution for Oil Lens Redistribution Including Capillary Forces and Oil Entrapment

Redistribution of a LNAPL lens (oil) at the phreatic surface is described using a multi-phase flow model, with emphasis on the effect of oil entrapment by water. The flow process is analyzed under the assumption that the vertical capillary and gravitational forces balance. Vertical integration leads to explicit functions which approximate the relations between the free oil volume per unit lateral area and the vertically averaged oil relative permeability on the one hand and the vertical position of the interface between zones with either two or three phases on the other hand. A linear relation between the trapped and free oil volume per unit lateral area approximates the vertically integrated nonlinear expression for the trapped oil saturation. The resulting differential equation admits a similarity solution describing the lateral spreading of free oil and the amount and location of trapped oil. Comparison with illustrative numerical computations, which are based on the nonreduced flow model in a two-dimensional planar or axisymmetric domain, shows that the analytical solution provides a good approximation of the free oil distribution at all later times.     

THE TRANSIENT ELLIPTIC FLOW OF POWER-LAW FLUID IN FRACTAL POROUS MEDIA

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Momentum equation for straight electrically charged jet

A one-dimensional momentum conservation equation for a straight jet driven by an electrical field is developed. It is presented in terms of a stress component, which can be applied to any constitutive relation of fluids. The only assumption is that the fluid is incompressible. The results indicate that both the axial and radial constitutive relations are required to close the governing equations of the straight charged jet. However, when the trace of the extra stress tensor is zero, only the axial constitutive relation is required. It is also found that the second normal stress difference for the charged jet is always zero. The comparison with other developed momentum equations is made.     

井筒气液两相流对致密气压裂水平井试井的影响

多段压裂水平井技术是目前开采致密气最常用的方法之一,在致密气压裂水平井试井测试中常常伴随着一定的产水量,井筒气液两相流会增加井筒流体的流动阻力,加大井筒流体流动对试井解释的影响.为了明确井筒气液两相流对致密气藏压裂水平井试井的影响,提高产水致密气压裂水平井的试井解释精度,建立了一种井筒气液两相流与地层渗流耦合的试井模型,采用数值方法对模型进行求解,获得了考虑井筒气液两相流的压裂水平井试井理论曲线、压力场分布及裂缝产量分布.研究结果表明:井筒气液两相流会增加试井理论曲线中压力和压力导数值,造成靠近入窗点的压力扩散要快于远离入窗点的压力扩散,引起靠近入窗点的裂缝产量要高于远离入窗点的裂缝产量.现场实例分析进一步说明,不考虑井筒两相流可能会对产水压裂水平井的试井解释结果产生很大误差,主要表现为水平井筒假设为无限大导流能力会使得拟合得到的表皮系数偏大,将测试点视为入窗点会使得拟合得到的原始地层压力偏小.所建立的考虑井筒两相流的压裂水平井试井模型为产水致密气井试井资料的正确解释提供了重要技术保障.      

Unified analysis of liquefaction and the ground flow phenomenon

Loose saturated sand behaves as a solid before liquefaction but as a fluid when the excess pore water pressure equals the initial confining stress, after which it recovers its strength. A simple constitutive equation for loose saturated sand was developed to express the phase transformation between a solid and fluid during liquefaction and the ground flow phenomenon. This constitutive equation was used for a shaking table test, and its applicability was investigated by comparing numerical and experimental results Published in Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 43, No. 8, pp. 129–144, August 2007. An erratum to this article is available at .     

Thermodynamically consistent modeling of granular-fluid mixtures incorporating pore pressure evolution and hypoplastic behavior

This paper presents a new, thermodynamically consistent model for granular-fluid mixtures, derived with the entropy principle of Müller and Liu. Including a pressure diffusion equation combined with the concept of extra pore pressure, and hypoplastic material behavior, thermodynamic restrictions are imposed on the constitutive quantities. The model is applied to a granular-fluid flow, using a closing assumption in conjunction with the fluid pressure. While the focal point of the work is the conceptional part, i.e. the thermodynamic consistent modeling, numerical simulations with physically reasonable results for simple shear flow are also carried out.     

A coupled surface‐subsurface model for hydrostatic flows under saturated and variably saturated conditions

In this paper, the governing differential equations for hydrostatic surface‐subsurface flows are derived from the Richards and from the Navier‐Stokes equations. A vertically integrated continuity equation is formulated to account for both surface and subsurface flows under saturated and variable saturated conditions. Numerically, the horizontal domain is covered by an unstructured orthogonal grid that may include subgrid specifications. Along the vertical direction, a simple z‐layer discretization is adopted. Semi‐implicit finite difference equations for velocities, and a finite volume approximation for the vertically integrated continuity equation, are derived in such a fashion that, after simple manipulation, the resulting discrete pressure equation can be assembled into a single, two‐dimensional, mildly nonlinear system. This system is solved by a nested Newton‐type method, which yields simultaneously the (hydrostatic) pressure and a nonnegative fluid volume throughout the computational grid. The resulting algorithm is relatively simple, extremely efficient, and very accurate. Stability, convergence, and exact mass conservation are assured throughout also in presence of wetting and drying, in variable saturated conditions, and during flow transition through the soil interface. A few examples illustrate the model applicability and demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.     

微尺度泊肃叶流的高阶连续模型分析

分别从分子运动论及连续流理论出发,对体积力驱动的微尺度平面泊肃叶(Poiseuille)流的横向分布特征进行了分析. 分子水平模拟采用直接模拟蒙特卡罗(direct simulation Monte Carlo, DSMC)方法;连续流理论则主要考察了伯内特(Burnett)及超伯内特(Super-Burnett)等高阶连续模型,在平行流假设下,获得一组高阶非线性常微分方程,补充完整的边界条件,并应用龙格-库塔(Runge-Kutta)方法求解. 结果表明,即使对于过渡领域流动,高阶连续模型可以给出与DSMC 结果完全相符的压力分布,而速度分布当努森(Knudsen)数约为0.2时即在壁面开始出现偏差;对于温度的横向分布,伯内特模型回复到纳维-斯托克斯(Navier-Stokes)水平,不能得到与DSMC一致的双峰结构,而超伯内特模型在滑移流动领域与DSMC定性相符,在过渡领域却仅能正确预测主流区温度分布,壁面附近差异明显;横向热流与纳维-斯托克斯模型预测接近,但机理上存在本质区别. 本文结果提示选用连续模型时,不仅要根据流动参数来判断,还可以根据所关注的物理量来进行调整,适度扩大连续模型的适用范围. 但即使采用高阶本构关系,连续模型仍然不能完全描述壁面附近区域的非平衡效应(如努森层效应),这是试图扩大连续模型适用范围时必然会遇到的困难.     

Elliptic Regions and Stable Solutions for Three-Phase flow in Porous Media

In the limit of zero capillary pressure, solutions to the equations governing three-phase flow, obtained using common empirical relative permeability models, exhibit complex wavespeeds for certain saturation values (elliptic regions) that result in unstable and non-unique solutions. We analyze a simple but physically realizable pore-scale model: a bundle of cylindrical capillary tubes, to investigate whether the presence of these elliptic regions is an artifact of using unphysical relative permeabilities. Without gravity, the model does not yield elliptic regions unless the most non-wetting phase is the most viscous and the most wetting phase is the least viscous. With gravity, the model yields elliptic regions for any combination of viscosities, and these regions occupy a significant fraction of the saturation space. We then present converged, stable numerical solutions for one-dimensional flow, which include capillary pressure. These demonstrate that, even when capillary forces are small relative to viscous forces, they have a significant effect on solutions which cross or enter the elliptic region. We conclude that elliptic regions can occur for a physically realizable model of a porous medium, and that capillary pressure should be included explicitly in three-phase numerical simulators to obtain stable, physically meaningful solutions which reproduce the correct sequence of saturation changes.     

Gaussian Closure of Transient Unsaturated Flow in Random Soils

The Gaussian closure approximation, previously used by the authors to solve steady state stochastic unsaturated flow problems in randomly heterogeneous soils, is extended here to transient flow. The method avoids linearizing the governing flow equations or the soil constitutive relations. It places no theoretical limit on the variance of constitutive parameters and applies to a broad class of soils with flow properties that scale according to a linearly separable model. Closure is obtained by treating the dimensionless pressure head as a multivariate Gaussian function. It yields a system of coupled nonlinear differential equations for the first and second moments of . We apply the Gaussian closure technique to the problem of transient infiltration into a randomly stratified soil. In each layer, hydraulic conductivity and water content vary exponentially with . Elsewhere we show that application of the technique to other constitutive relations is straightforward. Our solution for the mean and variance of in a one-dimensional layer with random conductivity compares well with Monte Carlo results over a wide range of parameters, provided that the spatial variability of the constitutive exponent is small. The solution provides considerable insight into the behavior of the transient unsaturated stochastic flow problem.     

Birefringence measurements in extensional flow of polyisobutylene around an expanding bubble

Birefringence in liquid polymers offers the possibility of obtaining information about stress in complex flows. In this work, this is done for extensional flows of polyisobutylene in a “breathing bubble” rheometer. In this type of rheometer, a bubble consisting of an incompressible, low-viscosity fluid (usually water) is injected into the sample with a nozzle. Expanding or collapsing the bubble by adding or removing water induces biaxial or uniaxial extension in the surrounding sample. The pressure difference between the bubble and the surroundings can be measured and compared to the predictions of constitutive equations. This measurement only gives one integral value for a complex flow history. In this paper, the birefringence around the bubble is measured in order to learn more about the flow. This is done by comparing pressure and birefringence results to those of standard constitutive equations for a polyisobutylene sample. A good agreement between the pressure and optical measurements and the theory is found with a single value of the stress-optical constant. Received: 25 June 1997 Accepted: 12 November 1997     

Assessment of the kinetic-frictional model for dense granular flow

This paper aims to quantitatively assess the application of kinetic-frictional model to simulate the motion of dry granular materials in dense condition, in particular, the annular shearing in Couette configuration. The weight of frictional stress was varied to study the contribution of the frictional stress in dense granular flows. The results show that the pure kinetic-theory-based computational fluid dynamics （CFD） model （without frictional stress） over-predicts the dominant solids motion of dense granular flow while adding frictional stress [Schaeffer, D. G. （1987）. Instability in the evolution equations describing incompressible granular flow. Journal of Differential Equations, 66（1）, 19-50] with the solids pressure of [Lun, C. NTK., Savage, S. B., Jeffrey, D. J., ＆ Chepurniy, N. （1984）. Kinetic theories for granular flow： Inelastic particles in Couette flow and slightly inelastic particles in a general flow field. Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 140, 223-256] in the CFD model improves the simulation to better conform available experimental results. The results also suggest that frictional stress transmission plays an important role in dense granular flow and should not be neglected in granular flow simulations. Compatible simulation results to the experimental data are seen by increasing the weight of frictional stress to a factor of 1.25-1.5. These improved simulation results suggest the current constitutive relations （kinetic-frictional model） need to be improved in order to better reflect the real dense granular flow.     

Non-isothermal polymer melt flow in sudden expansions

This paper presents numerical results for laminar, incompressible and non-isothermal polymer melt flow in sudden expansions. The mathematical model includes the mass, momentum and energy conservation laws within the framework of a generalized Newtonian formulation. Two constitutive relations are adopted to describe the non-Newtonian behavior of the flow, namely Cross and Modified Arrhenius Power-Law models. The governing equations are discretized using the finite difference method based on central, second-order accurate formulas for both convective and diffusive terms. The pressure–velocity coupling is treated by solving a Poisson equation for pressure. The results are presented for two commercial polymers and demonstrate that important flow parameters, such as pressure drop and viscosity distribution, are strongly affected by heat transfer features.     

Experimental Conditions Favoring the Formation of Fluid Banks during Counter-Current Flow in Porous Media

The purpose of this study is to investigate factors that affect the formation of fluid banks during gravity-driven counter-current flow in porous media. To our knowledge, development of a fluid bank has been observed in only one previous counter-current flow experiment, although there are some hints of fluid banks in other experiments. We have undertaken experimental and simulation studies to confirm the presence of such banks and to delineate factors which enhance or inhibit their formation. Experiments were performed using glass bead packs and X-ray Computed Tomography to monitor saturation distribution as a function of time. The simulation approach considers saturation history at every point in the sample, defining conditions at each time point from hysteresis in capillary pressure and relative permeability. The model proved to reproduce experimental observations accurately. The experiments and associated model show that a minimal vertical sample height is needed for the development of a fluid bank. In addition, round sample boundaries and higher average nonwetting phase saturation tend to prevent the formation of a bank. The validated model can improve our ability to predict and optimize counter-current flow processes, both in the laboratory and in the field (e.g. exploration and hydrocarbon extraction).     

考虑边界层影响时溢流坝动水压强分布规律的研究

根据溢流坝反弧段水流运动的基本方程,考虑水流边界层的影响,在流线曲率同心圆假设条件下,得到了溢流坝反弧段水流压强计算的表达式。通过引入近壁薄流层要领和缓和过渡流线假设,在水工模型试验的基础上,得到了溢流坝反弧段水流流线曲率半径的计算公式,使反弧段离心力影响范围内的水流流线曲率光滑连续,从而得到反弧段水流压强分布规律的统一表达式,该表达式能够反映水流压强沿反弧法线方向及切线方向的变化规律。