Simulation of three-phase displacement experiments

Three-phase displacement experiments for a water-benzyl alcohol-decane system are simulated. Literature experimental three-phase relative permeabilities for the system are used to describe the relative permeabilities in the three-phase region for different three-phase relative permeability models. Saturation trajectories and elliptical regions are mapped in the three-phase region. Simulations are performed to model displacement experiments including breakthrough and the formation of multiple shocks. The model can be used to predict the results for other displacements. In an experiment where significant gravity segregation is present, the displacement is more accurately modeled by assuming a uniform initial condition than by using the actual vertical saturation and assuming no cross flow. It is shown how different residual saturation values can be measured in the laboratory depending on the initial saturation conditions in the core. The experimental residual saturations can be significantly different than the ‘theoretical’ or model values.     

Pore-scale Network Modeling of Three-Phase Flow Based on Thermodynamically Consistent Threshold Capillary Pressures. II. Results

We use the model described in Zolfaghari and Piri (Transp Porous Media, 2016) to predict two- and three-phase relative permeabilities and residual saturations for different saturation histories. The results are rigorously validated against their experimentally measured counterparts available in the literature. We show the relevance of thermodynamically consistent threshold capillary pressures and presence of oil cusps for significantly improving the predictive capabilities of the model at low oil saturations. We study systems with wetting and spreading oil layers and cusps. Three independent experimental data sets representing different rock samples and fluid systems are investigated in this work. Different disordered networks are used to represent the pore spaces in which different sets of experiments were performed, i.e., Berea, Bentheimer, and reservoir sandstones. All three-phase equilibrium interfacial tensions used for the simulation of three-phase experimental data are measured and used in the model’s validation. We use a fixed set of parameters, i.e., the input network (to represent the pore space) and contact angles (to represent the wettability state), for all experiments belonging to a data set. Incorporation of the MSP method for capillary pressure calculations and cusp analysis significantly improves the agreement between the model’s predictions of relative permeabilities and residual oil saturations with experimental data.     

Analysis of wet pressing of paper: the three-phase model. Part I: constant air density

In this study, we consider a one-dimensional three-phase model describing wet pressing of paper. Part I is devoted to the simplified case in which air is assumed incompressible. In Part II we drop this assumption. The model is formulated in terms of water saturation and void ratio and it uses a material coordinate to describe spatial dependence. It also involves cross or matching conditions between the wet paper and the felt. In mathematical terms, we end up with a coupled system of equations: a nonlinear diffusion equation and a first order hyperbolic equation. We present some analytical observations to explain the essential behaviour of the model and we carry out numerical experiments using an upwind and a front tracking method.     

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.     

Simulation of Three-Phase Displacement Mechanisms Using a 2D Lattice-Boltzmann Model

Using a numerical technique, known as the lattice-Boltzmann method, we study immiscible three-phase flow at the pore scale. An important phenomenon at this scale is the spreading of oil onto the gas–water interface. In this paper, we recognize from first principles how injected gas remobilizes initially trapped oil blobs. The two main flow mechanisms which account for this type of remobilization are simulated. These are the double-drainage mechanism and (countercurrent) film flow of oil. The simulations agree qualitatively with experimental findings in the literature. We also simulate steady-state three-phase flow (fixed and equal saturations) in a small segment of a waterwet porous medium under both spreading and nonspreading conditions. The difference between the two conditions with respect to the coefficients in the generalized law of Darcy (which also includes viscous coupling) is investigated.     

Common line motion II: sliding plate rheometry

This paper is the second in a series of papers in which we examine both theoretically and experimentally the motion of common line (three-phase line of contact) formed by a deforming viscoelastic fluid and air on a solid surface and its role in polymer extrusion. In this paper, we present the experimental evidence of common line motion that supports our conclusions in Part I.     

Three-phase upward flow in a vertical pipe

In this paper we develop an approach to design a three-phase, gas–solid–liquid flow system that transports pneumatically scarified solid particles, including sticky ones, through a vertical pipe. The proposed system permits the introduction and maintenance of a liquid film that coats the pipe’s inner wall and acts as a lubricant that ensures sticky particles continue to move upward without permanently adhering to the pipe wall. The system’s operating conditions fall within the boundaries of the annular dispersed region on a typical flow pattern map of vertical flow of a gas–liquid mixture. High gas superficial velocities combined with low liquid superficial velocities characterize such a region. A combination of a modified one-dimensional, two-fluid annular dispersed flow model and a one-dimensional pneumatic conveying model is shown to describe this transport process satisfactorily. Solution of the combined models produces all the necessary design parameters including power requirements and superficial velocities of the two-fluid media needed to transport a given amount of solid particles. Results of model calculations are compared with rare three-phase flow data obtained prior to the development of the present model, by an independent experimental team that used the physical conditions of the present approach. Reasonable agreement justifies the use of the combined model for engineering design purposes.     

非饱和土-隧道系统动力响应计算的波函数法

针对非饱和地基土中埋置隧道的三维动力响应计算问题, 提出了波函数法.采用无限长的Flügge薄壁圆柱壳模拟圆形隧道衬砌,采用流、固、气组成的三相介质模拟非饱和地基土体.分别采用分离变量法以及Helmholtz矢量分解定理求解薄壁圆柱壳的振动控制方程与非饱和土的波动方程.根据隧-土交界面与地表面处的应力、位移以及孔隙流体压力等边界条件,利用平面波与柱面波的转换性质,实现了隧道内作用单位简谐载荷时隧道衬砌与土体系统动力响应的耦合求解.通过与既有单相弹性介质2.5维有限元-边界元法、两相饱和多孔介质2.5维有限元-边界元法以及三相非饱和介质Pip in Pip半解析法的计算结果进行对比, 验证了本文计算方法的可靠性. 最后,基于该方法, 通过算例分析了不同饱和度下非饱和土-隧道系统的动力响应特征.结果表明, 饱和度对土体动位移与超孔隙水压力的幅值响应有较大影响.该方法的非饱和地基土参数退化后,也可用来计算和分析饱和地基土或单相弹性地基土与隧道系统的动力响应.      

Fly-wheel model exhibits the hither and thither motion of a bouncing ball

The to and fro motion of a bouncing ball on a flat surface is represented by a low-dimensional model. To describe the repeated reversals of the horizontal velocity of the ball, the elasticity of the ball has to be taken into account. We show that a simple fly-wheel model exhibits the observed hither and thither motion of elastic balls. The suggested model is capable of describing oblique impacts of spherical bodies, which can be important in many applications, including dynamical simulation of granular materials. We find that the behaviour of the bouncing fly-wheel is sensitive to the initial conditions, and the escape time plots are used to illustrate this observation.     

Model problem of instantaneous motion of a three-phase contact line

Hydrodynamic problems of fluid flow with three-phase contact lines (for example, solid body-liquid-gas or solid body and two nonmixing liquids) are of special interest. Much attention has been paid lately to steady and quasisteady flows. Significantly unsteady problems of this kind have almost escaped consideration. In the present paper, we study a model problem of a significantly unsteady motion of a finite volume of an incompressible fluid with a three-phase contact line. The static contact angle is assumed to be right and the initial free surface of the liquid is assumed to be cylindrical. One of the planes instantaneously begins to move toward the other with a constant finite velocity. Flows with high Reynolds numbers and small capillary numbers are considered. Mass forces are ignored in the problem. The basic result is the construction of a formal asymptotic of the solution at small times. Lavrent’ev Institute of Hydrodynamics, Siberian Division, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk 630090. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 51–61, July–August, 1999.     

Modeling study of three-phase low liquid loading flow in horizontal pipes

A theoretical study is conducted to model the flow characteristics of three-phase stratified wavy flow in horizontal pipelines with a focus on the low liquid loading condition, which is commonly observed in wet gas pipelines. The model predictions are compared to the experimental data of Karami et al. (2016a, b). These experiments were conducted with water or 51 wt% of MEG in the aqueous phase, and inlet aqueous phase fraction values from 0 to100%.Modeling of three-phase flow can be described as a combination of two-phase gas-liquid flow modeling, and a liquid phase oil-water mixing modeling. A mechanistic model is proposed to predict flow characteristics of three-phase stratified wavy flow in pipeline. For the gas-liquid interactions, Watson's (1989) combined momentum balance equation derivation was applied. However, the calculation procedure was reversed, and the wave celerity was assumed as an input, while interfacial friction factor was one of the model's outputs. The liquid-liquid interactions were modeled using a simple energy balance equation and shift in liquid phase center of gravity calculations. The liquid phases can be separated, partially mixed, or fully mixed. The bottom aqueous film velocity was calculated using the law of the wall formulation, and was used to calculate the flowing aqueous phase fraction.The model predictions of different flow characteristics for two and/or three-phase flows were compared with available experimental data. The pressure gradient, wave amplitude, and aqueous phase fraction predictions were in good agreement with the experimental data. However, the liquid holdup predictions were slightly under-predicted by the model. Overall, an acceptable agreement was observed for all cases.Most of the common multiphase stratified flow models are developed with the assumption of steady-state conditions and with constant interfacial friction factor value. This study proposes a novel method to model stratified flow. The predictions are in acceptable agreement with experimental data conducted under stratified wavy flow pattern conditions.     

Pore-Scale Imaging and Analysis of Wettability Order,Trapping and Displacement in Three-Phase Flow in Porous Media with Various Wettabilities

Three-phase flow in porous media is encountered in many applications including subsurface carbon dioxide storage, enhanced oil recovery, groundwater remediation and the design of microfluidic devices. However, the pore-scale physics that controls three-phase flow under capillary dominated conditions is still not fully understood. Recent advances in three-dimensional pore-scale imaging have provided new insights into three-phase flow. Based on these findings, this paper describes the key pore-scale processes that control flow and trapping in a three-phase system, namely wettability order, spreading and wetting layers, and double/multiple displacement events. We show that in a porous medium containing water, oil and gas, the behaviour is controlled by wettability, which can either be water-wet, weakly oil-wet or strongly oil-wet, and by gas–oil miscibility. We provide evidence that, for the same wettability state, the three-phase pore-scale events are different under near-miscible conditions—where the gas–oil interfacial tension is ≤?1 mN/m—compared to immiscible conditions. In a water-wet system, at immiscible conditions, water is the most-wetting phase residing in the corners of the pore space, gas is the most non-wetting phase occupying the centres, while oil is the intermediate-wet phase spreading in layers sandwiched between water and gas. This fluid configuration allows for double capillary trapping, which can result in more gas trapping than for two-phase flow. At near-miscible conditions, oil and gas appear to become neutrally wetting to each other, preventing oil from spreading in layers; instead, gas and oil compete to occupy the centre of the larger pores, while water remains connected in wetting layers in the corners. This allows for the rapid production of oil since it is no longer confined to movement in thin layers. In a weakly oil-wet system, at immiscible conditions, the wettability order is oil–water–gas, from most to least wetting, promoting capillary trapping of gas in the pore centres by oil and water during water-alternating-gas injection. This wettability order is altered under near-miscible conditions as gas becomes the intermediate-wet phase, spreading in layers between water in the centres and oil in the corners. This fluid configuration allows for a high oil recovery factor while restricting gas flow in the reservoir. Moreover, we show evidence of the predicted, but hitherto not reported, wettability order in strongly oil-wet systems at immiscible conditions, oil–gas–water, from most to least wetting. At these conditions, gas progresses through the pore space in disconnected clusters by double and multiple displacements; therefore, the injection of large amounts of water to disconnect the gas phase is unnecessary. We place the analysis in a practical context by discussing implications for carbon dioxide storage combined with enhanced oil recovery before suggesting topics for future work.

     

Numerical simulation of one-dimensional three-phase filtration

A problem that arises in connection with the development of oil deposits is that of the combined filtra-filtration of several phases-for example, oil, water, and gas. In [1] Muskat proposes a mathematical model for three-phase filtration and obtains some analytical solutions. Approximate methods of simulation are described in [2, 3]. A complete investigation of the problem can be made by numerical methods. This can be conveniently done by straight-through calculation schemes, which must be so constructed as to be suitable for describing all variants of flow taking place in different regions of the simulated rock stratum, from a one-phase region (rigid, elastic, or pure gaseous) to a three-phase region. In the present study we consider a completely conservative finite-difference scheme, explicit with respect to the saturations and implicit with respect to the pressure, for the equations of three-phase filtration. We give examples of the numerical simulation of three-phase flows.     

Three-dimensional finite element simulations of ferroelectric polycrystals under electrical and mechanical loading

Complex, non-linear, irreversible, hysteretic behavior of polycrystalline ferroelectric materials under a combined electro-mechanical loading is a result of domain wall motion, causing simultaneous expansion and contraction of unlike domains, grain sub-divisions that have distinct spontaneous polarization and strain. In this paper, a 3-dimensional finite element method is used to simulate such a polycrystalline ferroelectric under electrical and mechanical loading. A constitutive law due to Huber et al. [1999. A constitutive model for ferroelectric polycrystals. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 47, 1663-1697] for switching by domain wall motion in multidomain ferroelectric single crystals is employed in our model to represent each grain, and the finite element method is used to solve the governing conditions of mechanical equilibrium and Gauss's law. The results provide the average behavior for the polycrystalline ceramic. We compare the outcomes predicted by this model with the available experimental data for various electromechanical loading conditions. The qualitative features of ferroelectric switching are predicted well, including hysteresis and butterfly loops, the effect on them of mechanical compression, and the response of the polycrystal to non-proportional electrical loading.     

Relative Permeabilities for Strictly Hyperbolic Models of Three-Phase Flow in Porous Media

Traditional mathematical models of multiphase flow in porous media use a straightforward extension of Darcys equation. The key element of these models is the appropriate formulation of the relative permeability functions. It is well known that for one-dimensional flow of three immiscible incompressible fluids, when capillarity is neglected, most relative permeability models used today give rise to regions in the saturation space with elliptic behavior (the so-called elliptic regions). We believe that this behavior is not physical, but rather the result of an incomplete mathematical model. In this paper we identify necessary conditions that must be satisfied by the relative permeability functions, so that the system of equations describing three-phase flow is strictly hyperbolic everywhere in the saturation triangle. These conditions seem to be in good agreement with pore-scale physics and experimental data.     

A novel 3D parallel mechanism for the passive motion simulation of the patella-femur-tibia complex

Parallel mechanisms have been exploited for the kinematic modelling of the passive motion, i.e. the motion under virtually unloaded conditions, of the patella-femur-tibia human joint. In particular, a new mechanism is devised in this paper: a 3D model of the patella-femur relative motion is presented which, combined with a previous simplified model of the femur-tibia relative motion, provides a suitable tool for the design of knee prostheses. Although less accurate than a previously presented model of the patella-femur-tibia joint, the new mechanism still replicates passive knee motion quite well and is simpler from a mechanical point of view. Experimental results validate the efficiency of the proposed model.     

Empirical test of a microscopic three-phase traffic theory

A review of dynamic nonlinear features of spatiotemporal congested patterns in freeway traffic is presented. The basis of the review is a comparison of theoretical features of the congested patterns that are shown by a microscopic traffic flow model in the context of the Kerner's three-phase traffic theory and empirical microscopic and macroscopic pattern characteristics measured on different freeways over various days and years. In this test of the microscopic three-phase traffic flow theory, a model of an "open" road is applied: Empirical time-dependence of traffic demand and drivers' destinations are used at the upstream model boundaries. At downstream model boundary conditions for vehicle freely leaving a modeling freeway section(s) are given. Spatiotemporal congested patterns emerge, develop, and dissolve in this open freeway model with the same types of bottlenecks as those in empirical observations. It is found that microscopic three-phase traffic models can explain all known macroscopic and microscopic empirical congested pattern features (e.g., probabilistic breakdown phenomenon as a first-order phase transition from free flow to synchronized flow, moving jam emergence in synchronized flow rather than in free flow, spatiotemporal features of synchronized flow and general congested patterns at freeway bottlenecks, intensification of downstream congestion due to upstream congestion at adjacent bottlenecks). It turns out that microscopic optimal velocity (OV) functions and time headway distributions are not necessarily qualitatively different, even if local congested traffic behavior is qualitatively different. Model performance with respect to spatiotemporal pattern emergence and evolution cannot be tested using these traffic characteristics. The reason for this is that important spatiotemporal features of congested traffic patterns are lost in these and many other macroscopic and microscopic traffic characteristics, which are widely used as the empirical basis for a test of traffic flow models. PACS: 89.40. + k, 47.54. + r, 64.60.Cn, 64.60.Lx     

Simulation of the sedimentation of aggregating particles

The methods of the thermodynamics of irreversible processes are used to construct a three-phase model of a suspension that takes into account the formation of aggregates from suspended particles and the trapping of part of the carrier fluid in the aggregates. The model makes it possible to describe both the motion of the aggregates relative to the carrier fluid as well as the flow of the fluid through the structure of the aggregate, and also the elastic properties of the aggregates. In the framework of the model, a study is made of the problem of one-dimensional sedimentation of aggregating particles in a finite tube under the influence of gravity.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 71–78, May–June, 1983.I thank S. A. Regirer for interest in the work and valuable discussions.