Abstract
A number of experiments on fluid flow at the micro/nano-scale have demonstrated that flow velocity obviously deviates from the classical Poiseuille’s law due to the micro forces between the wall and the fluid. Based on an oil–water two-phase network simulation model, a three-dimensional pore-scale micro network model with solid–liquid interfacial effects was established. The influences of solid–liquid interface effects including van der Waals force and wettability on the residual oil distribution and relative permeability were investigated through microscopic simulation. The effects of pore radius, pore–throat size ratio, shaping factor, and coordination number on the residual oil distribution were analyzed at the same time. The results showed that the oil recovery would be overestimated by about 4% without van der Waals force in a water-wet reservoir. The impact of van der Waals force on water-wet reservoirs was significantly obvious in contrast with oil-wet reservoirs. In addition, the residual oil distribution was significantly influenced by pore radius in water-wet reservoir, comparatively influenced by pore–throat size ratio in oil-wet reservoir. The present study illustrates the successful application of three-dimensional micro network models considering solid–liquid interfacial effects, and provides new insights for oil recovery enhancement.
Highlights
The structure of a porous reservoir is irregular and complicated; it is difficult to describe the fluid flow with several macroscopic reservoir parameters
The relative permeability and residual oil distribution with and without van der Waals force in water-wet and oil-wet reservoirs were compared
Oil recovery with and without van der Waals force were 57.07% and 59.48%, respectively, for water-wet reservoir, and the efficiency variation influenced by van der Waals force was 4.05%
Summary
The structure of a porous reservoir is irregular and complicated; it is difficult to describe the fluid flow with several macroscopic reservoir parameters. To investigate the microscopic flow characteristics and mechanisms, digital core technology (DCT)—which has the characters of low cost, fast testing, and comprehensiveness—is becoming a widely used means. Compared with physical simulation experiments, it has more advantages for solving microscopic problems. Percolation network modeling is one of the most important methods presently being used, especially microscopic mechanism in porous media [1]. Pore-scale network modeling has recently been widely utilized to study the flow mechanism at the micro scale. A network model was pioneered by Fatt [2]
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