Scaling of Countercurrent Imbibition in 2D Matrix Blocks With Different Boundary Conditions

Abstract

Summary Scaling of imbibition data is of essential importance in predicting oil recovery from fractured reservoirs. In this work, oil recovery by countercurrent spontaneous imbibition from 2D matrix blocks with different boundary conditions was studied using numerical calculations. The numerical results show that the shape of imbibition-recovery curves changes with different boundary conditions. Therefore, the imbibition curves could not be closely correlated with a constant parameter. A modified characteristic length was proposed by a combination of Ma et al. (1997) and theoretical characteristic length. The modified characteristic length is a function of imbibition time, and the shape of imbibition curves could be changed using the modified characteristic length. The overall imbibition curves were closely correlated using the modified characteristic length. Finally, the modified characteristic length was verified by experimental data for imbibition with different boundary conditions.