A New Measurement of Anisotropic Relative Permeability and Its Application in Numerical Simulation

Congcong Li, Shuoliang Wang, Qing You and Chunlei Yu
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Congcong Li: Faculty of Engineering, School of Energy, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
Shuoliang Wang: Faculty of Engineering, School of Energy, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
Qing You: Faculty of Engineering, School of Energy, China University of Geosciences, Beijing 100083, China
Chunlei Yu: Shengli Oilfield Exploration and Development Research Institute, Dongying 257001, China

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 16, 1-18

Abstract: In this paper, we used a self-developed anisotropic cubic core holder to test anisotropic relative permeability by the unsteady-states method, and introduced the anisotropic relative permeability to the traditional numerical simulator. The oil–water two-phase governing equation considering the anisotropic relative permeability is established, and the difference discretization is carried out. We formed a new oil–water two-phase numerical simulation method. It is clear that in a heterogeneous rock with millimeter to centimeter scale laminae, relative permeability is an anisotropic tensor. When the displacement direction is parallel to the bedding, the residual oil saturation is high and the displacement efficiency is low. The greater the angle between the displacement direction and the bedding strike, the lower the residual oil saturation is, the higher the displacement efficiency is, and the relative permeability curve tends towards a rightward shift. The new simulator showed that the anisotropic relative permeability not only affects the breakthrough time and sweep range of water flooding, but also has a significant influence on the overall water cut. The new simulator is validated with the actual oilfield model. It could describe the law of oil–water seepage in an anisotropic reservoir, depict the law of remaining oil distribution of a typical fluvial reservoir, and provide technical support for reasonable injection-production directions.

Keywords: relative permeability; anisotropic; reservoir numerical simulation; heterogeneity; fluvial sandstone reservoir (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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