Flow characteristics of a Doddington sample in the Darcy-inertial regimes from finite volume method analysis

Abstract

The fluid flow analysis in four Doddington rock samples was conducted using the finite volume method. A novel methodology for reconstructing virtual samples from micro CT-scans was introduced, with adaptability to other porous geometries. The study covered the Reynolds number interval from 2.71 × 10−6 to 10, in the porosity (φ) range 0.153–0.198, covering the Darcy and laminar regime flow conditions, expected near-well bore injection/extraction regions and gas flows. The analysis included passive tracer transport and dispersion, revealing independence of permeability, tortuosity, Archie's exponent, and formation factor in the Darcy regime. As flow velocity increased in the inertial-laminar regime, values became more scattered due to eddy formations, leading to energy losses and reduced effective flow areas in percolated channels. Tracer dispersion nature depended more on Reynolds number and sample geometry. These results offer local details to complement conventional flow measurements, and the reconstruction methodology can be easily adapted to other porous media obtained through CT-scans.