Characterization of Two-Phase Flow from Pore-Scale Imaging Using Fractal Geometry under Water-Wet and Mixed-Wet Conditions

Shuangmei Zou, Peixing Xu, Congjiao Xie, Xuan Deng and Haodong Tang
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Shuangmei Zou: Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, China University of Geosciences, Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430074, China
Peixing Xu: Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, China University of Geosciences, Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430074, China
Congjiao Xie: Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, China University of Geosciences, Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430074, China
Xuan Deng: China National Offshore Oil Corporation Limited, Zhanjiang Branch, Zhangjiang 524000, China
Haodong Tang: Key Laboratory of Tectonics and Petroleum Resources, China University of Geosciences, Ministry of Education, Wuhan 430074, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 6, 1-17

Abstract: High resolution micro-computed tomography images for multiphase flow provide us an effective tool to understand the mechanism of fluid flow in porous media, which is not only fundamental to the understanding of macroscopic measurements but also for providing benchmark datasets to validate pore-scale modeling. In this study, we start from two datasets of pore scale imaging of two-phase flow obtained experimentally under in situ imaging conditions at different water fractional flows under water-wet and mixed-wet conditions. Then, fractal dimension, lacunarity and succolarity are used to quantify the complexity, clustering and flow capacity of water and oil phases. The results show that with the wettability of rock surface altered from water-wet to mixed-wet, the fractal dimension for the water phase increases while for the oil phase, it decreases obviously at low water saturation. Lacunarity largely depends on the degree of wettability alteration. The more uniform wetting surfaces are distributed, the more homogeneous the fluid configuration is, which indicates smaller values for lacunarity. Moreover, succolarity is shown to well characterize the wettability effect on flow capacity. The succolarity of the oil phase in the water-wet case is larger than that in the mixed-wet case while for the water phase, the succolarity value in the water-wet is small compared with that in the mixed-wet, which show a similar trend with relative permeability curves for water-wet and mixed-wet. Our study provides a perspective into the influence that phase geometry has on relative permeability under controlled wettability and the resulting phase fractal changes under different saturations that occur during multiphase flow, which allows a means to understand phase geometric changes that occur during fluid flow.

Keywords: wettability; pore scale imaging; two phase flow; fractal geometric parameters; fluid distribution (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: 2022
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