Percolation theory of two-phase relative permeability

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982 · Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5809923

Heiba, A A; Sahimi, M; Scriven, L E; Davis, H T

Fluid distributions and flow through the pore space of reservoir rock depend not only on pore sizes and shapes but also on local pore connectivity, i.e., topology. This topology can be described in terms of the network concept of coordination, which is central in most of the development to date of the precolation theory of transport in chaotic media. The transport-path accessibility function from percolation theory summarizes the topologic aspects of pore space important to describing the capillarity-controlled spatial distributions of 2 fluids, and the transport-path conductivity function summarizes the topologic aspects of pore space important to describing the creeping flow of 2 fluids, each continuously connected in a distinct set of channels. From these functions, general formulas are derived for the drainage and imbibition relative permeabilities of 2 phases, one of which is completely wetting. Results agree well with all the features of oil and water relative permeabilities reported for Berea sandstones - including the lack of hysteresis in water relative permeability and the presence of hysteresis in oil relative permeability. 65 references.

• OSTI ID: 5809923
• Report Number(s): CONF-820927-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Soc. Pet. Eng. AIME, Pap.; (United States) Journal Volume: SPE-11015
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
CAPILLARY FLOW
DRAINAGE
ENERGY SOURCES
ENGINEERING
FLOW MODELS
FLUID FLOW
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYSTERESIS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MATHEMATICS
MINERAL RESOURCES
OIL FIELDS
OIL WELLS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PERMEABILITY
PETROLEUM
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
POROSITY
RESERVOIR ENGINEERING
RESERVOIR ROCK
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SANDSTONES
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
TOPOLOGY
TWO-PHASE FLOW
WATER
WELLS
WETTABILITY