Modeling Immiscible Fluid Displacement in a Porous Medium Using Lattice Boltzmann Method

Abstract

The numerical investigation of the interpenetrating flow dynamics of a gas injected into a homogeneous porous media saturated with liquid is presented. The analysis is undertaken as a function of the inlet velocity, liquid–gas viscosity ratio (D) and physical properties of the porous medium, such as porous geometry and surface wettability. The study aims to improve understanding of the interaction between the physical parameters involved in complex multiphase flow in porous media (e.g., CO2 sequestration in aquifers). The numerical simulation of a gaseous phase being introduced through a 2D porous medium constructed using seven staggered columns of either circular- or square-shaped micro-obstacles mimicking the solid walls of the pores is performed using the multiphase Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM). The gas–liquid fingering phenomenon is triggered by a small geometrical asymmetry deliberately introduced in the first column of obstacles. Our study shows that the amount of gas penetration into the porous medium depends on surface wettability and on a set of parameters such as capillary number (Ca), liquid–gas viscosity ratio (D), pore geometry and surface wettability. The results demonstrate that increasing the capillary number and the surface wettability leads to an increase in the effective gas penetration rate, disregarding porous medium configuration, while increasing the viscosity ratio decreases the penetration rate, again disregarding porous medium configuration.