An extended theory to predict the onset of viscous instabilities for miscible displacements in porous media

Many enhanced oil recovery schemes involve the displacement of oil by a miscible fluid. Whether a displacement is stable or unstable has a profound effect on how efficiently a solvent displaces oil within a reservoir. That is, if viscous fingers are present, the displacement efficiency and, hence, the economic return of the recovery scheme is seriously impaired bacause of macroscopic bypassing of the oil. As a consequence, it is of interest to be able to predict the boundary which separates stable displacements from those which are unstable.This paper presents a dimensionless scaling group for predicting the onset of hydrodynamic instability of a miscible displacement in porous media. An existing linear perturbation analysis was extended in order to obtain the scaling group. The new scaling group differs from those obtained in previous studies because it takes into account a variable unperturbed concentration profile, both transverse dimensions of the porous medium, and both the longitudinal and the transverse dispersion coefficient.It has been shown that stability criteria derived in the literature are special cases of the general condition given here. Therefore, the stability criterion obtained in this study should be used for a displacement conducted under arbitrary conditions. The stability criterion is verified by comparing it with miscible displacement experiments carried out in a Hele-Shaw cell. Moreover, a comparison of the theory with some porous medium experiments from the literature also supports the validity of the theory.Nomenclature c solvent concentration - C _g fractional glycerine volume - D molecular diffusion coefficient, cm²/s - D _L longitudinal dispersion coefficient, cm²/s - D _T transverse dispersion coefficient, cm²/s - g gravitational acceleration, cm/s² - h distance between the plates, cm - I _sr dimensionless scaling group - k permeability, cm² - L _x width of the porous medium, cm - L _y height of the porous medium, cm - t time, s - u velocity in thex direction, cm/s - v velocity in they direction, cm/s - V displacement velocity, cm/s - w velocity in thez direction, cm/s - z length of the graded viscosity bank, cm - eigenvalue in thex direction - eigenvalue in they direction - wave number - viscosity, poise - density, g/cc - time constant, s^-1 - porosity     

A computerized technique for measuringin-situ concentrations during miscible displacements in porous media

A technique for measurement of thein-situ concentration in an unconsolidated porous medium has been developed. The method involves measurement of electrical conductivityin-situ, under dynamic conditions, for flow involving brine of differing concentrations, at selected locations along the porous medium and relating it to the brine strength. Data acquisition and analysis is carried out using a Hewlett — Packard micro-computer and its interface. A user-friendly software was designed and developed for the system. The measurement technique was evaluated by studying the effect of brine concentration, brine flow rate, and by conducting miscible displacements experiment. The experimentally measured dispersion coefficients for the porous medium agreed closely with the value predicted by the correlation available in the literature.     

Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging of miscible fingering in porous media

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) can noninvasively map the spatial distribution of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)-sensitive nuclei. This can be utilized to investigate the transport of fluids (and solute molecules) in three-dimensional model systems. In this study, MRI was applied to the buoyancy-driven transport of aqueous solutions, across an unstable interface in a three-dimensional box model in the limit of a small Péclet number (Pe<0.4). It is demonstrated that MRI is capable of distinguishing between convective transport (fingering) and molecular diffusion and is able to quantify these processes. The results indicate that for homogeneous porous media, the total fluid volume displaced through the interface and the amplitude of the fastest growing finger are linearly correlated with time. These linear relations yielded mean and maximal displacement velocities which are related by a constant dimensionless value (2.4±0.1). The mean displacement velocity (U) allows us to calculate the media permeability which was consistent between experiments (1.4±0.1×10^–7cm²).U is linearly correlated with the initial density gradient, as predicted by theory. An extrapolation of the density gradient to zero velocity enables an approximate determination of the critical density gradient for the onset of instability in our system (0.9±0.3×10^–3 g/cm³), a value consistent with the value predicted by a calculation based upon the modified Rayleigh number. These results suggest that MRI can be used to study complex fluid patterns in three-dimensional box models, offering a greater flexibility for the simulation of natural conditions than conventional experimental modelling methods.     

Efficiency of diffusion controlled miscible displacement in fractured porous media

Experiments were performed to study the diffusion process between matrix and fracture while there is flow in fracture. 2-inch diameter and 6-inch length Berea sandstone and Indiana limestone samples were cut cylindrically. An artificial fracture spanning between injection and production ends was created and the sample was coated with heat-shrinkable teflon tube. A miscible solvent (heptane) was injected from one end of the core saturated with oil at a constant rate. The effects of (a) oil type (mineral oil and kerosene), (b) injection rates, (c) orientation of the core, (d) matrix wettability, (e) core type (a sandstone and a limestone), and (f) amount of water in matrix on the oil recovery performance were examined. The process efficiency in terms of the time required for the recovery as well as the amount of solvent injected was also investigated. It is expected that the experimental results will be useful in deriving the matrix–fracture transfer function by diffusion that is controlled by the flow rate, matrix and fluid properties.     

On the modelling of miscible displacements in porous media with stagnant fluid

Equations of miscible fluids displacement in porous media presenting a capacitance effect, i.e., porous media with a mobile fraction and a stagnant fraction, are derived by means of a volume or a surface averaging technique in the case of high Peclet numbers. The models thus obtained are constituted by two coupled equations. The first is a convective-dispersive equation related to the transfer in mobile fraction; the second is a first-order rate expression describing mass transfer between the mobile and immobile regions. These derivations justify the equations which can be obtained by means of an heuristic approach and specify their conditions of validity.These models are compared to the models in which the second equation is a diffusion equation; the latter are shown to be erroneous.     

On the modeling of miscible flow in multi-component porous media

An analytical model of miscible flow in multi-component porous media is presented to demonstrate the influence of pore capacitance in extending diffusive tailing. Solute attenuation is represented naturally by accommodating diffusive and convective flux components in macropores amd micropores as elicited by the local solute concentration and velocity fields. A set of twin, coupled differential equations result from the Laplace transform and are solved simultaneously using a differential operator for one-dimensional flow geometry. The solutions in real space are achieved using numeric inversion. In addition, to represent more faithfully the dominant physical processes, this approach enables efficient and stable semi-analytical solution procedure of the coupled system that is significantly more complex than current capacitance type models. Parametric studies are completed to illustrate the ability of the model to represent sharp breakthrough and lengthy tailing, as well as investigating the form of the nested heterogeneity as a result of solute exchange between macropores and micropores. Data from a laboratory column experiment is examined using the present model and satisfactory agreement results.Roman Letters a rate coefficient of internal flow - b velocity ratio (v ₁/v ₂) - h dispersion ratio (D ₂/D ₁) - c ₁ macropore concentration - c ₂ micropore concentration - ¯c ₁ macropore concentration in Laplace space - ¯c ₂ micropore concentration in Laplace space - c ₁ ⁰ macropore concentration at source location - c ₂ ⁰ micropore concentration at source location - D ₁ macropore dispersion coefficient - D ₂ micropore dispersion coefficient - f fraction of pore space occupied by fluid in primary channel - L length of laboratory sample column - K mass exchange rate - t time from initial stage - v ₁ primary flow channel velocity - v ₂ micropore interstitial velocity - x distance from source - y dimensionless distance Greek Letters equivalent Péclet number - dimensionless time, or injected pore volume     

Nonlinear stability analysis of miscible displacements

A simulator for three-dimensional horizontal miscible displacements in porous media is developed. Using this simulator, we examine the initiation and development of instabilities, viscous fingers and gravity tongues.With the only perturbations to the system being truncation and round-off errors, a density ratio (the ratio of the density of the displacing fluid to that of the displaced fluid) different from one is responsible for the initiation of the instabilities, and an unfavorable mobility ratio (the ratio of the viscosity of the displaced fluid to that of the displacing fluid) is responsible for the growth of the instabilities.     

Velocity fields and streamline patterns of miscible displacements in cylindrical tubes

Displacements of a viscous fluid by a miscible fluid of a lesser viscosity and density in cylindrical tubes were investigated experimentally. Details of velocity and Stokes streamline fields in vertical tubes were measured using a DPIV (digital particle image velocimetry) technique. In a reference frame moving with the fingertip, the streamline patterns around the fingertip obtained from the present measurements confirm the hypothesis of Taylor (1961) for the external patterns, and that of Petitjeans and Maxworthy (1996) for the internal patterns. As discussed in these papers, the dependent variable, m, a measure of the volume of viscous fluid left on the tube wall after the passage of the displacing finger, is a parameter that determines the flow pattern. When m>0.5 there is one stagnation point at the tip of the finger; when m<0.5 there are two stagnation points on the centerline, one at the tip and the other inside the fingertip, and a stagnation ring on the finger surface with a toroidal recirculation in the fingertip between the two stagnation points. The finger profile is obtained from the zero streamline of the streamline pattern.An erratum to this article can be found at     

How to predict viscous fingering in three component flow

In a WAG process (Water Alternate Gas), water and a miscible solvent (gas) are injected into a reservoir containing water and oil. The solvent will finger through the oil, leading to early breakthrough and poor recovery. Compared with a miscible flood, when only solvent is injected, fingering is supressed by the simultaneous injection of water, since this reduces the apparent mobility contrast between the injected and displaced fluids. The fingering in a miscible flood, with only hydrocarbon flowing, can be modelled successfully using a Todd and Longstaff fractional flow. In this paper, we demonstrate how to modify the effective Todd and Longstaff mobility ratio self-consistently to account for fingering in three component systems. The resultant empirical equations of flow are solved exactly in one dimension and are in excellent agreement with the averaged saturation and concentration profiles computed using two dimensional high resolution simulation, for a variety of injected water saturations, in both secondary and tertiary displacements.     

The effect of dispersion model on the linear stability of miscible displacement in porous media

Chang and Slattery (1986, 1988b) introduced a simplified model of dispersion that contains only two empirical parameters. The traditional model of dispersion (Nikolaevskii, 1959; Bear, 1961; Scheidegger, 1961; de Josselin de Jong and Bossen, 1961; Peaceman, 1966; Bear, 1972) has three empirical parameters, two of which can be measured in one-dimensional experiments while the third, the transverse dispersivity, must be measured in experiments in which a two-dimensional concentration profile develops. It is found that nearly the same linear stability behavior results from using either model.     

Wetting and nonwetting fluid displacements in porous media

The understanding of simple laminar flow in tubes has often been used to interpret the more complicated flow in porous media. A study of the motion of two immiscible liquids in closed tubes with relatively large diameter (> 0.3 cm i.d), was conducted in order to examine the influence of wetting and nonwetting liquids on the flow behavior. The results indicate that the wetting properties of the fluids with regard to the tube wall have a major efffect on the formation and motion of long bubbles. A physically based model was used to predict the velocity and the conditions for no motion of bubbles and drops in tubes. These results were used to interpret the nature of oil and water flow in porous media. Experiments in which the wetting liquid was displaced by the nonwetting, or vice versa, were conducted by injecting the displacing liquid at a constant flux at the center of a two-dimensional chamber saturated with the displaced liquid. The influence of wetting-nonwetting characteristics on the quantity of liquid displaced, the shape of the interface between the two liquids, and the interpretation of the no motion radius in a closed tube to the case of a porous medium are discussed. It would appear that the no motion radius gives a good indication of the minimum width of a nonwetting penetrating finger and the maximum width of nonwetting ganglia left by drainage.     

Stability of vertical miscible displacements with developing density and viscosity gradients

Viscous fingering and gravity tonguing are the consequences of an unstable miscible displacement. Chang and Slattery (1986) performed a linear stability analysis for a miscible displacement considering only the effect of viscosity. Here the effect of gravity is included as well for either a step change or a graduated change in concentration at the injection face during a downward, vertical displacement. If both the mobility ratio and the density ratio are favorable (the viscosity of the displacing fluid is greater than the viscosity of the displaced fluid and, for a downward vertical displacement, the density of the displacing fluid is less than the density of the displaced fluid), the displacement will be stable. If either the mobility ratio or the density ratio is unfavorable, instabilities can form at the injection boundary as the result of infinitesimal perturbations. But if the concentration is changed sufficiently slowly with time at the entrance to the system, the displacement can be stabilized, even if both the mobility ratio and the density ratio are unfavorable. A displacement is more likely to be stable as the aspect ratio (ratio of thickness to width, which is assumed to be less than one) is increased. Commonly the laboratory tests supporting a field trial use nearly the same fluids, porous media, and displacement rates as the field trial they are intended to support. For the laboratory test, the aspect ratio may be the order of one; for the field trial, it may be two orders of magnitude smaller. This means that a laboratory test could indicate that a displacement was stable, while an unstable displacement may be observed in the field.     

Experimental investigation of the displacement of viscous fluids from porous media

The results of experimental investigations of different-viscosity and immiscible Newtonian fluid flows through porous media are presented. The investigations were carried out for a Hele-Shaw cell occupied by a porous medium. The basic difference from the previous studies is the observation of the flow after break-through of the displacing fluid into the sink. A series of qualitative and quantitative results which clarify the physics of immiscible fluid flows through capillaries and porous media were obtained in the course of the experimental investigations.__________Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Academii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, 2005, pp. 124–131. Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Baryshnikov, Belyaev, and Turuntaev.     

The equations of miscible flow with negligible molecular diffusion

A set of equations with generalized permeability functions has been proposed by de la Cruz and Spanos, Whitaker, and Kalaydjian to describe three-dimensional immiscible two-phase flow. We have employed the zero interfacial tension limit of these equations to model two phase miscible flow with negligible molecular diffusion. A solution to these equations is found; we find the generalized permeabilities to depend upon two empirically determined functions of saturation which we denote asA andB. This solution is also used to analyze how dispersion arises in miscible flow; in particular we show that the dispersion evolves at a constant rate. In turn this permits us to predict and understand the asymmetry and long tailing in breakthrough curves, and the scale and fluid velocity dependence of the longitudinal dispersion coefficient. Finally, we illustrate how an experimental breakthrough curve can be used to infer the saturation dependence of the underlying functionsA andB.Roman Letters A a surface area; cross-sectional area of a slim tube or core - A _1s pore scale area of interface between solid and fluid 1 - A ₁₂ pore scale area of interface between fluid 1 and fluid 2 - A(S ₁) fluid flow weighting function defined by Equation (3.21) - a _i ,b _a ,c _a ,d _i macro scale parameters,i=1...2 (Section 3); polynomial coefficients,i=1...N (Section 7) - B(S ₁) fluid flow weighting function defined by Equation (3.16) - c _e effluent concentration - c _i mass concentration fluidi=1...2 - c _fi fractional mass concentration of fluidi=1...2 - D dispersion tensor - D _m mechanical dispersion tensor - D ₀ molecular dispersion tensor - D _L longitudinal dispersion coefficient - D _T transverse dispersion coefficient - D _L ⁰ defined by Equation (6.21) - F(c _f2) defined by Equation (5.17) - f ₁(S ₁) fractional flow - g acceleration of gravity - j ₂ deviation mass flux of fluid 2 - K permeability of porous medium - K _ij generalized relative permeability function,i=1...2,j=1...2 - K _ri relative permeability functions,i=1...2 - L length of a slim tube or core - M _i total mass of fluidi=1...2 in volumeV - N number of points used to generate numerical curves - n unit normal to a surface - P pressure - P _i pressure in fluidi=1...2 - P _c capillary pressure - P ₁₂ macroscopic capillary pressure parameter - P(x) normal distribution function - q Darcy velocity of total fluid - q _i Darcy velocity of fluidi=1...2 - S _i saturation of fluidi=1...2 - S _L a low saturation value forS ₁ - S _H a high saturation value forS ₁ - u average intersitial fluid velocity - u _S isosaturation velocity - V volume used for volume averaging - V(c _f2) function defined by Equation (6.28) - V _e effluent volume - V _f fluid volume - V _i volume of fluidi=1...2 (Section 2); injected fluid volume - V _p pore volume of a slim tube or core - v macro scale fluid velocity - v _i macro scale velocity of fluidi=1...2 - _q (S ₁) isosaturation speed - _g (S ₁) component of isosaturation velocity due to gravity - w(S _L,S _H,t) width of a displacement front - w(t) overall width of a displacement front Greek Letters static interfacial tension - _ME macroscopic dispersivity - divergence operator - porosity - _i fraction of pore space occupied by fluidi=1...2 - (S ₁) effective viscosity of the fluid - _i viscosity of fluidi=1...2 - ₁₂ macroscopic fluid viscosity coupling parameter - macro scale fluid density - _i density of fluid i=1...2 - _q effective gravitational fluid density     

Numerical study of the linear stability of immiscible displacement in porous media

In this paper the linear stability of immiscible displacement in porous media is examined by numerical methods. The method of matched initial value problems is used to solve the eigenvalue problem for displacement processes pertaining to initially mobile phases. Both non capillary and capillary displacement in rectilinear flow geometries is studied. The results obtained are in agreement with recent asymptotic studies. A sensitivity analysis with respect to process parameters is carried out. Similarities and differences with the stability of Hele-Shaw flows are delineated.This is a revised version of paper SPE 13163, presented at the 59th Annual Technical Conference of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, Houston, Texas, 16–19 Sept. 1984.     

Scaling mixing during miscible displacement in heterogeneous porous media

This paper discusses scaling of mixing during miscible flow in heterogeneous porous media. In large field systems dispersivity appears to depend on system length due to heterogeneities. Three types of scaling are discussed to investigate the heterogeneous effects. Dimensional analysis of mixing during flow through geometerically scaled heterogeneous models is illustrated using measured dispersion. Fractal analysis of mixing in statistically scaled heterogeneous porous media is discussed. Analog scaling of pressure transients in heterogeneous porous media is suggested as an in-situ method of estimating dispersion.Notation L Length - M mass - t time, (1) indicates dimensionless - a dispersivity (L) - V local velocity (L/t) - c concentration (l). - v velocity (L/t) - C₁ fluid compressibility (Lt²/M) - v time averaged velocity (LJt) - D dispersion VA) - W width (L) - D fractional dimension (1) - x coordinate (L) - d Euclidean dimension (1) - Y Y=In \-k (l) - \-d average particle size (L) - y coordinate (L) - g acceleration due to gravity (L/t2) - _c fractal cutoff (L) - \-k average permeability (L2) - viscosity (LM/t) - L length (L) - porosity (1) - L correlation scale (1/L) - density (N/L³) - N Number of sites (l) - ² variance (dimension depends on variable) - p pressure (W/t²L) - spectral exponent (l) - [R] randomnumber (1) - r radius (L) - t time (t)     

Visualization of the effects of buoyancy on liquid-liquid displacements in vertically-aligned porous medium cells

Conclusions The results of this work suggest that the use of two-dimensional porous medium cells aligned in the vertical plane affords a promising experimental technique for studying the very significant effects that buoyancy forces are capable of exerting on the stability of liquid/liquid displacement processes in porous media. The cell described here is relatively easy to use and permits a wide range of cell orientations, flow modes, injection points, and recovery points to be investigated. Detailed quantitative studies involving a wide range of fluids, flowrates, and flow modes, are currently under way and will be reported in due course.