Two-Phase Fluid Flow Properties of Rough Fractures With Heterogeneous Wettability: Analysis With Lattice Boltzmann Simulations

Guiltinan, Eric J.; Santos, J. E.; Cardenas, M. Bayani; Espinoza, D. Nicolas; Kang, Qinjun

doi:10.1029/2020wr027943

Two-Phase Fluid Flow Properties of Rough Fractures With Heterogeneous Wettability: Analysis With Lattice Boltzmann Simulations

Journal Article · Mon Dec 07 00:00:00 EST 2020 · Water Resources Research

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2020wr027943· OSTI ID:1771096

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Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)

Fractures are conduits for fluid flow in low-permeability geological formations. Multiphase flow properties of fractures are important in natural processes and in engineering applications such as the evaluation of the sealing capacity of caprocks and productivity of hydrocarbon-bearing tight rocks. Investigations of flow and transport through fractures typically focus on the effects of fracture geometric and mechanical factors such as aperture, roughness, and compressibility. The wettability of the fracture surfaces and its influence on microscale interfacial phenomena and macroscale effective transport properties are seldom studied. In this study, we investigated the effect of heterogeneous wetting properties on the displacement of water by supercritical CO2 through a series of lattice Boltzmann method simulations. The results show the evolution of the CO2 plume within a fracture is controlled by both the roughness of the aperture field and the wetting distribution. We combined these factors into a capillary pressure map that can be related to the macroscopic flow behavior of the fracture. We observed that heterogeneous wetting distributions promote the residual trapping of water where lower capillary pressures allowed for isolated water pockets in higher capillary pressure zones. Analysis of fracture unsteady relative permeability shows the effect of wetting on permeability evolution and provides support for the viscous-coupling relative permeability model. Finally, analysis of the steady-state relative permeability and saturation demonstrates a strong correlation between permeability and the standard deviation of the capillary pressure field. Thus, characterizing the distribution of wetting properties of fractures is crucial to understanding multiphase fracture flow and transport properties.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)

Grant/Contract Number:: 89233218CNA000001; SC0001114

OSTI ID:: 1771096

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1786881

Report Number(s):: LA-UR--20-23393

Journal Information:: Water Resources Research, Journal Name: Water Resources Research Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 57; ISSN 0043-1397

Publisher:: American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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