Multi-phase upscaling from pore to core: When traditional methods fail

Abstract:

Traditional multi-phase upscaling from the pore scale to the core scale involves calculating the fluid occupation on each pore at the pore scale and from this, obtaining core scale constitutive curves, e.g. capillary pressure and relative permeability. Conceptually this picture has been achieving greater and greater success, but it fails miserably when the scales are crossed by pore-scale phenomena, in particular unstable flow. I will outline this discrepancy, discuss recent continuum and discrete methods to handle this discrepancy, and show how it may lead to a better understanding of scale-crossing effects such as capillary nonequilibrium, capillary hysteresis, and film flow.