Effect of wettability on scale-up of multiphase flow from core-scale to reservoir fine-grid-scale

Conference · Fri Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1997

OSTI ID:508532

Chang, Y C; Mani, V; Mohanty, K K ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Houston, TX (United States)

Typical field simulation grid-blocks are internally heterogeneous. The objective of this work is to study how the wettability of the rock affects its scale-up of multiphase flow properties from core-scale to fine-grid reservoir simulation scale ({approximately} 10{prime} x 10{prime} x 5{prime}). Reservoir models need another level of upscaling to coarse-grid simulation scale, which is not addressed here. Heterogeneity is modeled here as a correlated random field parameterized in terms of its variance and two-point variogram. Variogram models of both finite (spherical) and infinite (fractal) correlation length are included as special cases. Local core-scale porosity, permeability, capillary pressure function, relative permeability functions, and initial water saturation are assumed to be correlated. Water injection is simulated and effective flow properties and flow equations are calculated. For strongly water-wet media, capillarity has a stabilizing/homogenizing effect on multiphase flow. For small variance in permeability, and for small correlation length, effective relative permeability can be described by capillary equilibrium models. At higher variance and moderate correlation length, the average flow can be described by a dynamic relative permeability. As the oil wettability increases, the capillary stabilizing effect decreases and the deviation from this average flow increases. For fractal fields with large variance in permeability, effective relative permeability is not adequate in describing the flow.

• Research Organization: BDM Corp., Bartlesville, OK (United States); American Association Petroleum Geologists, Tulsa, OK (United States)
• OSTI ID: 508532
• Report Number(s): CONF-970317--; ON: DE97004613
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
58 GEOSCIENCES
DRILL CORES
FLUID FLOW
HETEROGENEOUS EFFECTS
PERMEABILITY
RESERVOIR ROCK
WETTABILITY