H23D-1618
Effects of Liquid Layers and Distribution Patterns on Three-Phase Saturation and Relative Permeability Relationships: A Micromodel Study
Tuesday, 15 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Chin-Chia Chang1, Jui Pin Tsai2, Liang-Cheng Chang1, Shao-Yiu Hsu3, Hsin-Yu Shan1, Chung Jung Chiang4, Chih Chao Huang4 and Jui Er Chen4, (1)National Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan, (2)University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States, (3)NCU National Central University of Taiwan, Jhongli, Taiwan, (4)Central Geological Survey, Taipei, Taiwan
Abstract:
We used micromodel experiments to study three-phase fluid flow in porous media. Different from previous studies, we simultaneously observed and measured pore-scale fluid behavior and three-phase constitutive relationships with digital image acquisition/analysis, fluid pressure control, and permeability assays. Our results showed that the fluid layers significantly influenced pore-scale, three-phase fluid displacement as well as water relative permeability. At low water saturation, water relative permeability not only depended on water saturation but also the distributions of air and diesel. A simple capillary-tube based model showed that the water relative permeability is proportional to the number of apparently continuous water paths before the critical stage in which no apparently continuous water flow path can be found. Our findings provide additional information to the essential constitutive relationships for understanding and modeling three-phase flow in the porous media
