Immiscible Displacement Model for Anisotropic and Correlated Porous Media
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 7, Issue 4
Abstract
Immiscible flow governs the macroscopic behavior of aqueous and non-aqueous phase liquids inside the porous media. Ganglia generation and movement of the advancing front during fluid displacement can only be described by means of microscopic models. In this study, a pore network cellular automata is used to simulate the displacement of a nonaqueous phase liquid by water inside a porous media. Pore sizes are generated using random and stochastic fields. The numerical model captures the evolution of interfaces and fluid movement for each pressure applied to the displacing fluid. Observed trends suggest that ganglia size and shape, and fingering are directly related to anisotropy, pore size spatial variability and correlation length. The results show that micro- and mesoscale porous media properties control the nonaqueous phase residual saturation and observed macoscopic behavior.
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Acknowledgments
This research was partially supported by CONICET, Agencia Cordoba Ciencia and SECyT. The writers thank Professor Luis A. Godoy for his comments and appreciate the initial support given by Professor Victor Rinaldi and Professor Carlos Santamarina.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 7 • Issue 4 • July 2007
Pages: 311 - 317
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Dec 30, 2005
Accepted: Dec 8, 2006
Published online: Jul 1, 2007
Published in print: Jul 2007
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