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Title: Flow and displacement of Bingham non-Newtonian fluids in porous media

Abstract

This paper presents a theoretical study of the flow and displacement of a Bingham fluid in porous media. An integral method of analyzing the single-phase flow of this type of fluid is developed. The accuracy of a newly developed approximate analytical solution for transient-flow problems is confirmed by comparison with numerical solutions. The flow behavior of a slightly compressible Bingham fluid is discussed, and a new well-test-analysis method is developed by use of the integral solution. To obtain some understanding of the physics of immiscible displacement with Bingham fluids, a Buckley-Leverett analytical solution with a practical graphic evaluation method was developed and applied to the problem of displacing a Bingham fluid with water. Results revealed that the saturation profile and displacement efficiency are controlled not only by the relative permeabilities, as in the case of Newtonian fluids, but also by the inherent complexities of Bingham non-Newtonian behavior. In particular, we found that in the displacement process with a Bingham fluid, a limiting maximum saturation exists beyond which no further displacement can be achieved.

Authors:
; ;  [1]
  1. Lawrence Berkeley Lab. (US)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
7103783
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) Production Engineering; (United States)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 7:3; Journal ID: ISSN 0885-9221
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
02 PETROLEUM; 99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE; OIL WELLS; DISPLACEMENT FLUIDS; FLOW MODELS; RESERVOIR ROCK; OIL SATURATION; PERMEABILITY; WATER SATURATION; WELL STIMULATION; PERFORMANCE TESTING; PHYSICS; ANALYTICAL SOLUTION; INTEGRAL EQUATIONS; PLANNING; POROUS MATERIALS; WELL DRILLING; DRILLING; EQUATIONS; FLUIDS; MATERIALS; MATHEMATICAL MODELS; SATURATION; STIMULATION; TESTING; WELLS; 020300* - Petroleum- Drilling & Production; 020200 - Petroleum- Reserves, Geology, & Exploration; 990200 - Mathematics & Computers

Citation Formats

Wu, Y S, Pruess, K, and Witherspoon, P A. Flow and displacement of Bingham non-Newtonian fluids in porous media. United States: N. p., 1992. Web. doi:10.2118/20051-PA.
Wu, Y S, Pruess, K, & Witherspoon, P A. Flow and displacement of Bingham non-Newtonian fluids in porous media. United States. https://doi.org/10.2118/20051-PA
Wu, Y S, Pruess, K, and Witherspoon, P A. 1992. "Flow and displacement of Bingham non-Newtonian fluids in porous media". United States. https://doi.org/10.2118/20051-PA.
@article{osti_7103783,
title = {Flow and displacement of Bingham non-Newtonian fluids in porous media},
author = {Wu, Y S and Pruess, K and Witherspoon, P A},
abstractNote = {This paper presents a theoretical study of the flow and displacement of a Bingham fluid in porous media. An integral method of analyzing the single-phase flow of this type of fluid is developed. The accuracy of a newly developed approximate analytical solution for transient-flow problems is confirmed by comparison with numerical solutions. The flow behavior of a slightly compressible Bingham fluid is discussed, and a new well-test-analysis method is developed by use of the integral solution. To obtain some understanding of the physics of immiscible displacement with Bingham fluids, a Buckley-Leverett analytical solution with a practical graphic evaluation method was developed and applied to the problem of displacing a Bingham fluid with water. Results revealed that the saturation profile and displacement efficiency are controlled not only by the relative permeabilities, as in the case of Newtonian fluids, but also by the inherent complexities of Bingham non-Newtonian behavior. In particular, we found that in the displacement process with a Bingham fluid, a limiting maximum saturation exists beyond which no further displacement can be achieved.},
doi = {10.2118/20051-PA},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/7103783}, journal = {SPE (Society of Petroleum Engineers) Production Engineering; (United States)},
issn = {0885-9221},
number = ,
volume = 7:3,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1992},
month = {Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1992}
}