A Dynamic Pore-Scale Model of Imbibition

We present a dynamic pore-scale network model of imbibition, capable of calculating residual oil saturation for any given capillary number, viscosity ratio, contact angle and aspect ratio. Our goal is not to predict the outcome of core floods, but rather to perform a sensitivity analysis of the above-mentioned parameters, except the viscosity ratio.

We find that contact angle, aspect ratio and capillary number all have a significant influence on the competition between piston-like advance, leading to high recovery, and snap-off, causing oil entrapment. Due to enormous CPU-time requirements we could not incorporate long-range correlations among pore and throat sizes in our network, but were limited to small-range correlations.

Consequently, the gradual suppression of snap-off occurs within one order of magnitude of the capillary number. At capillary numbers around l0- to l0-, snap-off has been entirely inhibited, in agreement with results obtained by Blunt using a quasi-static model. For higher aspect ratios, the effect of rate and contact angle is more pronounced.

Many core floods are conducted at capillary numbers in the range 10 to10.6. We believe that the excellent recoveries observed during our waterfloods on tight chalk may be explained by the combined effect of rate, non-zero contact angle and existence of long-range correlations. Vast reductions in residual oil saturations are largely due to suppression of snap- off in favour of frontal displacement, whereas ganglion mobilization plays a much more modest role in the displacement of continuous oil.

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