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Nonequilibrium Effects and Multiphase Flow in Porous Media

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Abstract

In this paper we develop a more general formulation for transient multiphase flow in porous media based on physics observed in core-scale and micromodel experiments. We account for non-equilibrium effects by considering redistribution time and treat saturation by evolving locally moving time-averages of the saturation. Several families of models arise from approximations to the general formulation with various degrees of accuracy. The classical Buckley-Leverett and Barenblatt expressions are special cases of these families. We explore the behaviors of a number of special cases arising from the proposed general formulation using established and novel numerical schemes that provide nonlinear physics-based preconditioning. The agreement observed between numerical and experimental results demonstrates the consistency of the proposed abstraction.

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Acknowledgments

The first author thanks Anne T. and Robert M. Bass for their generous support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Energy Resources Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Saman A. Aryana & Anthony R. Kovscek

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  1. Saman A. Aryana
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  2. Anthony R. Kovscek
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Correspondence to Saman A. Aryana.

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S. A. Aryana: Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Fellow.

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Aryana, S.A., Kovscek, A.R. Nonequilibrium Effects and Multiphase Flow in Porous Media. Transp Porous Med 97, 373–394 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-013-0129-y

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