Effect of capillary heterogeneity in Buckley-Leverett displacement

Journal Article · Fri May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1992 · SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) Reservoir Engineering; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2118/18798-PA· OSTI ID:5357680

Chang, J; Yortsos, Y C ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Southern California (US)

The Buckley-Leverett (BL) equation has been routinely used for the description of immiscible displacement in laboratory operations and for parameter estimation and prediction. Recent advances, however, have led to a serious challenge of the validity of many of the traditional theories. For the case of BL displacement, most studies have examined heterogeneity effects as they relate to viscous fingering. In this paper, the authors investigate the effects of capillary heterogeneity induced by variations in permeability in the direction of displacement. The authors study a variety of heterogeneity profiles, both uncorrelated and correlated spatially. The authors find that capillary heterogeneity significantly affects the saturation distributions, which closely follow the heterogeneity variation. The saturation response is stronger at lower rates, at more unfavorable mobility, under drainage conditions, and for smaller spatial correlations. The results are in agreement with available experimental data for primary drainage and secondary imbibition. They may be useful in the interpretation of saturation profiles and the identification of heterogeneity.

• OSTI ID: 5357680
• Journal Information: SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) Reservoir Engineering; (United States), Journal Name: SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) Reservoir Engineering; (United States) Vol. 7:2; ISSN 0885-9248; ISSN SREEE
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200 -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
CAPILLARY FLOW
DATA
DISPLACEMENT FLUIDS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
FLOW MODELS
FLUID FLOW
FLUIDS
HETEROGENEOUS EFFECTS
INFORMATION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
NUMERICAL DATA
OIL SATURATION
OIL WELLS
PARAMETRIC ANALYSIS
PERMEABILITY
RESERVOIR ROCK
SATURATION
SCALE MODELS
STRUCTURAL MODELS
VARIATIONS
VISCOUS FLOW
WELLS