Quantification of non-linear multiphase flow in porous media

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Authors

Yihuai Zhang , Branko Bijeljic, Ying Gao, Qingyang Lin, Martin J Blunt 

Abstract

We measure the pressure difference during two-phase flow across a sandstone sample for a range of injection rates and fractional flows of water, the wetting phase, during an imbibition experiment. We quantify the onset of a transition from a linear relationship between flow rate and pressure gradient to a non-linear power-law dependence. We show that the transition from linear (Darcy) to non-linear flow and the exponent in the power-law is a function of fractional flow. We use energy balance to accurately predict the onset of intermittency for a range of fractional flows, fluid viscosities and three rock types, reconciling several literature datasets.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31223/osf.io/2rxbn

Subjects

Earth Sciences, Engineering, Hydrology, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Mineral Physics, Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Keywords

fluid dynamics, multiphase flow, porous media

Dates

Published: 2020-08-20 21:15

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License

GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) 2.1