Flow characteristics and regime transition of aqueous foams in porous media over a wide range of quality,velocity,and surfactant concentration

Aqueous foam is broadly applicable to enhanced oil recovery(EOR).The rheology of foam as a function of foam quality,gas and liquid velocities,and surfactant concentration constitute the foundation of its application.The great variations of the above factors can affect the effectiveness of N2 foam in EOR continuously in complex formations,which is rarely involved in previous relevant studies.This paper presents an experimental study of foam flow in porous media by injecting pre-generated N2 foam into a sand pack under the conditions of considering a wide range of gas and liquid velocities and surfactant concentrations.The results show that in a wide range of gas and liquid velocities,the pressure gradient contours are L-shaped near the coordinate axes,but V-shaped in other regions.And the surfactant concentration is a strong factor influencing the trend of pressure gradient contours.Foam flow resistance is very sensitive to the surfactant concentration in both the high-and low-foam quality regime,especially when the surfactant concentration is less than CMC.The foam quality is an important variable to the flow resistance obtained.There exists a transition point from low-to high-quality regime in a particular flow system,where has the maximum flow resistance,the corresponding foam quality is called transition foam quality,which increases as the surfactant concentration increases.The results can add to our knowledge base of foam rheology in porous media,and can provide a strong basis for the field application of foams.

Modeling of multiphase flow in low permeability porous media:Effect of wettability and pore structure properties

Multiphase flow in low permeability porous media is involved in numerous energy and environmental applications.However,a complete description of this process is challenging due to the limited modeling scale and the effects of complex pore structures and wettability.To address this issue,based on the digital rock of low permeability sandstone,a direct numerical simulation is performed considering the interphase drag and boundary slip to clarify the microscopic water-oil displacement process.In addition,a dual-porosity pore network model(PNM)is constructed to obtain the water-oil relative permeability of the sample.The displacement efficiency as a recovery process is assessed under different wetting and pore structure properties.Results show that microscopic displacement mechanisms explain the corresponding macroscopic relative permeability.The injected water breaks through the outlet earlier with a large mass flow,while thick oil films exist in rough hydrophobic surfaces and poorly connected pores.The variation of water-oil relative permeability is significant,and residual oil saturation is high in the oil-wet system.The flooding is extensive,and the residual oil is trapped in complex pore networks for hydrophilic pore surfaces;thus,water relative permeability is lower in the water-wet system.While the displacement efficiency is the worst in mixed-wetting systems for poor water connectivity.Microporosity negatively correlates with invading oil volume fraction due to strong capillary resistance,and a large microporosity corresponds to low residual oil saturation.This work provides insights into the water-oil flow from different modeling perspectives and helps to optimize the development plan for enhanced recovery.

Pore structure and liquid flow velocity distribution in water-saturated porous media probed by MRI

Magnetic resonance imaging （MRI） was used to probe the structure and flow velocity within the interparticle space of a packed bed of agar beads under water-saturated condition. The images of the velocity field at three different flow rates were obtained. To determine the pore-parameter of the porous media, the internal structure of the bed was also obtained using image processing technique. The results show that the porosity of the sample is 31.28% and the fitting curve for the distribution of pore equivalent diameter follows Gaussian distribution. The velocity profiles do shift as the flow rate varies and the solution flow through the void space is not a homogeneous flow in any pores. The velocity distributions within the pore are roughly parabolic with the local maximum being near the center. About half of the velocity components are in the class of 0-1 cm/s. The frequency of lower velocity components is lower at higher flow rate, but to higher velocity components, it is just the opposite.

MATHEMATICAL MODEL OF TWO-PHASE FLUID NONLINEAR FLOW IN LOW-PERMEABILITY POROUS MEDIA WITH APPLICATIONS

A mathematical model of two-phase fluid nonlinear flow in the direction of normal of ellipse through low-permeability porous media was established according to a nonlinear flow law expressed in a continuous function with three parameters, a mass conservation law and a concept of turbulent ellipses. A solution to the model was obtained by using a finite difference method and an extrapolation method. Formulas of calculating development index not only before but also after water breaks through an oil well in the condition of two-phase fluid nonlinear flow in the media were derived. An example was discussed. Water saturation distribution was presented. The moving law of drainage front was found. Laws of change of pressure difference with time were recognized. Results show that there is much difference of water saturation distribution between nonlinear flow and linear flow; that drainage front by water moves faster, water breaks through sooner and the index gets worse because of the nonlinear flow; and that dimensionless pressure difference gets larger at the same dimensionless time and difficulty of oil development becomes bigger by the nonlinear flow. Thus, it is necessary that influence of nonlinear flow on development indexes of the oil fields be taken into account. The results provide water-flooding development of the oilfields with scientific basis.

Analytical solution of a double moving boundary problem for nonlinear flows in one-dimensional semi-infinite long porous media with low permeability

Based on Huang＇s accurate tri-sectional nonlin- ear kinematic equation （1997）, a dimensionless simplified mathematical model for nonlinear flow in one-dimensional semi-infinite long porous media with low permeability is presented for the case of a constant flow rate on the inner boundary. This model contains double moving boundaries, including an internal moving boundary and an external mov- ing boundary, which are different from the classical Stefan problem in heat conduction： The velocity of the external moving boundary is proportional to the second derivative of the unknown pressure function with respect to the distance parameter on this boundary. Through a similarity transfor- mation, the nonlinear partial differential equation （PDE） sys- tem is transformed into a linear PDE system. Then an ana- lytical solution is obtained for the dimensionless simplified mathematical model. This solution can be used for strictly checking the validity of numerical methods in solving such nonlinear mathematical models for flows in low-permeable porous media for petroleum engineering applications. Finally, through plotted comparison curves from the exact an- alytical solution, the sensitive effects of three characteristic parameters are discussed. It is concluded that with a decrease in the dimensionless critical pressure gradient, the sensi- tive effects of the dimensionless variable on the dimension- less pressure distribution and dimensionless pressure gradi- ent distribution become more serious; with an increase in the dimensionless pseudo threshold pressure gradient, the sensi- tive effects of the dimensionless variable become more serious; the dimensionless threshold pressure gradient （TPG） has a great effect on the external moving boundary but has little effect on the internal moving boundary.

An overview on nonlinear porous flow in low permeability porous media

This paper gives an overview on nonlinear porous flow in low permeability porous media, reveals the microscopic mechanisms of flows, and clarifies properties of porous flow fluids. It shows that, deviating from Darcy＇s linear law, the porous flow characteristics obey a nonlinear law in a low-permeability porous medium, and the viscosity of the porous flow fluid and the permeability values of water and oil are not constants. Based on these characters, a new porous flow model, which can better describe low permeability reservoir~ is established. This model can describe various patterns of porous flow, as Darcy＇s linear law does. All the parameters involved in the model, having definite physical meanings, can be obtained directly from the experiments.

Measurement of Fluid Flow in Pipe and Porous Media by High-Resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The objective of this study is to understand the process of fluid flow in pipe and porous media with different pore structures. High-resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging （MRI） technique was used to visualize the pore structure and measure fluid flow. The porous media was formed by packed bed of glass beads. Flow measurement was carried out by a modified spin echo sequence. The results show that the velocity distribution in pipe is annular and the linear relation between MRI velocity and actual velocity is found in pipe flow measurement. The flow distribution in porous media is rather heterogeneous, and it is consistent with heterogeneous pore structure. The flow through pores with the high volume flow rate is determined largely by geometrical effects such as pore size and cross-sectional area.

Experimental study on the velocity-dependent dispersion of the solute transport in different porous media

The hydrodynamic dispersion is an important factor influencing the reactive solute transport in the porous media, and many previous studies assumed that it linearly varied with the average velocity of the groundwater flow. Actually, such linear relationship has been challenged by more and more experimental observations, even in homogeneous media. In this study, we aim to investigate the relationship between hydrodynamics dispersion and the flow velocity in different types of porous media through a laboratory-controlled experiment. The results indicate that (1) the dispersion coefficient should not be a linear function of the flow velocity when the relationship between the flow velocity and the hydraulic gradient can be described by Darcy's law satisfactorily;(2) Power function works well in describing the dispersion coefficient changing with the flow velocity for different types of porous media, and the power value is between 1.0-2.0 for different particle sizes.

Velocity Projection with Upwind Scheme Based on the Discontinuous Galerkin Methods for the Two Phase Flow Problem

The upwind scheme is very important in the numerical approximation of some problems such as the convection dominated problem, the two-phase flow problem, and so on. For the fractional flow formulation of the two-phase flow problem, the Penalty Discontinuous Galerkin (PDG) methods combined with the upwind scheme are usually used to solve the phase pressure equation. In this case, unless the upwind scheme is taken into consideration in the velocity reconstruction, the local mass balance cannot hold exactly. In this paper, we present a scheme of velocity reconstruction in some H(div) spaces with considering the upwind scheme totally. Furthermore, the different ways to calculate the nonlinear coefficients may have distinct and significant effects, which have been investigated by some authors. We propose a new algorithm to obtain a more effective and stable approximation of the coefficients under the consideration of the upwind scheme.

Humic acid transport in saturated porous media:Influence of flow velocity and influent concentration

Understanding the transport of humic acids（HAs） in porous media can provide important and practical evidence needed for accurate prediction of organic/inorganic contaminant transport in different environmental media and interfaces. A series of column transport experiments was conducted to evaluate the transport of HA in different porous media at different flow velocities and influent HA concentrations. Low flow velocity and influent concentration were found to favor the adsorption and deposition of HA onto sand grains packed into columns and to give higher equilibrium distribution coefficients and deposition rate coefficients, which resulted in an increased fraction of HA being retained in columns.Consequently, retardation factors were increased and the transport of HA through the columns was delayed. These results suggest that the transport of HA in porous media is primarily controlled by the attachment of HA to the solid matrix. Accordingly, this attachment should be considered in studies of HA behavior in porous media.

低速非达西渗流的全隐式模拟模型

许多研究表明,低渗透介质中的流体渗流需要启动压力梯度,并不遵循达西定律;而传统的油藏数值模拟理论都是建立在达西定律之上的,因而它很难反映低渗介质中的流体渗流特征。为了让油藏模拟模型能正确描述低渗介质中这种特殊的渗流现象,基于前人的研究成果,建立了一种非达西渗流的全隐式数值模拟模型,并给出了该数学模型的有限差分形式和相应的全隐式处理方法,完成了已有模拟器的功能改造。最后给出了计算实例,结果表明,在其它条件相同的情况下,启动压力梯度越大,则在相同时间内的采出程度越低,累计注水量越少;相反,启动压力梯度越小,则在相同时间内的采出程度越高,累计注水量越多。分析表明,算例的模拟结果是合理的,此模型能够反映低渗介质中流体的低速非达西渗流特征。图3参5（周涌沂摘）

多孔介质中低速气体的非线性渗流

在多孔介质中 ,通过对低速渗流气体的摩阻系数 f与雷诺数Re的实验关系分析得出 ,随着雷诺数减小 ,气体的渗流规律表现出由遵从达西线性关系连续转变为非线性关系 ,其转变所对应的雷诺数 Rec =(1.0 ～ 4.4)× 10 -4 。由动力学分析可知 ,低速渗流气体出现的非线性现象是由气体分子与孔隙壁的作用引起 。

论齐成伟幂比方程作为致密油藏渗流本构方程

岩心渗流测试显示致密油藏渗流是低速非线性渗流,而描写低速非线性渗流本构关系的数学模型已有很多。对已有低速非线性渗流数学模型中引用率较高的姜瑞忠方程、黄延章方程和最新出现的幂比方程进行对比分析,发现:幂比方程为整体可微函数方程,优于两分段可微函数方程形式的姜瑞忠方程和黄延章方程;幂比方程令启动压力梯度似有实无,巧妙地调和了存在启动压力梯度和不存在启动压力梯度两种对立观点,使致密油藏渗流研究不再纠缠于有无启动压力梯度,而姜瑞忠方程和黄延章方程中存在备受争议的启动压力梯度项;幂比方程首次从岩心渗流测试所得数据点的平滑线上拐点的存在,揭示出中速近线性渗流的存在并成功对其描述,而姜瑞忠方程和黄延章方程不具备描述中速近线性渗流的能力。因此,齐成伟幂比方程可作为致密油藏渗流本构方程。

径向非均质油藏低速非达西渗流试井分析

首先研究了非均质径向油藏低速非达西渗流动边界问题的数值解 ,然后给出了含启动压力梯度和地层流量分布的井底压力及其导数关系式 。

非达西渗流研究进展

越来越多的资料表明非达西渗流是普遍存在的现象,而且这种现象对某些实际工程的影响不可忽略,必须对其进行总结和研究.针对非达西渗流的两个研究领域———低速非达西渗流和高速非达西渗流的运动方程等研究成果分别总结;对低速非达西渗流试验方法以及启动压力梯度、拟启动压力梯度和临界压力梯度的产生原因和影响因素进行了论述,且分类介绍了其运动方程;简要介绍了高速非达西渗流的试验方法,并讨论了通过实验曲线建立其运动方程的一般过程,并分类介绍了运动方程;最后概述目前非达西渗流研究的各种问题.

Modern methods of underground hydromechanics with applications to reservoir engineering

In the report the basic principles of new approach to the study of transport processes in porous medium are represented. The ＂percolation＂ approach has arisen as an attempt to overcome the traditional phenomenological approach in the underground hydromechanics, based on the assumption of continuity of saturated porous media, which does not allow to explain and to model a number of effects arising from the fluids flow in porous media. The results obtained are very interesting not only from the scientific point of view but as the scientific basis for a number of enhanced oil recovery technologies.