Stability analysis of the moving interface in piston- and non-piston-like displacements

From the macroscopic point of view, expressions involving reservoir and operational parameters are established for investigating the stability of moving interface in piston- and non-piston-like displacements. In the case of axi-symmetrical piston-like displacement, the stability is related to the moving interface position and water to oil mobility ratio. The capillary effect on the stability of moving interface depends on whether or not the moving interface is already stable and correlates with the wettability of the reservoir rock. In the case of non-piston-like displacement, the stability of the front is governed by both the relative permeability and the mobility ratio. The project supported by the National Basic Research Program of China (2005CB221300), and the Innovative Project of Chinese Academy of Sciences (KJCX-SW-L08). The English text was polished by Yunming Chen.