Influence of capillary end effects on steady-state relative permeability estimates from direct pore-scale simulations
Abstract
In this study, we investigate and characterize the influence of capillary end effects on steady-state relative permeabilities obtained in pore-scale numerical simulations of two-phase flows. Our study is motivated by the observation that capillary end effects documented in two-phase laboratory-scale experiments can significantly influence permeability estimates. While numerical simulations of two-phase flows in reconstructed pore-spaces are increasingly employed to characterize relative permeabilities, a phenomenon which is akin to capillary end effects can also arise in such analyses due to the constraints applied at the boundaries of the computational domain. We profile the relative strength of these capillary end effects on the calculation of steady-state relative permeabilities obtained within randomly generated porous micro-structures using a finite volume-based two-phase flow solver. Finally, we suggest a procedure to estimate the extent of the regions influenced by these capillary end effects, which in turn allows for the alleviation of bias in the estimation of relative permeabilities.
- Authors:
-
[1];
[2];
[1];
- Politecnico di Milano (Italy). Dipartimento di Energia
- Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Politecnico di Milano (Italy). Dipartimento di Ingegneria Civile e Ambientale; Univ. of Arizona, Tucson, AZ (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1467331
- Alternate Identifier(s):
- OSTI ID: 1415061
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-17-25509
Journal ID: ISSN 1070-6631
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA25396; 20150763PRD4
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Physics of Fluids
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 29; Journal Issue: 12; Journal ID: ISSN 1070-6631
- Publisher:
- American Institute of Physics (AIP)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING; 42 ENGINEERING
Citation Formats
Guédon, Gaël Raymond, Hyman, Jeffrey De’Haven, Inzoli, Fabio, Riva, Monica, and Guadagnini, Alberto. Influence of capillary end effects on steady-state relative permeability estimates from direct pore-scale simulations. United States: N. p., 2017.
Web. doi:10.1063/1.5009075.
Guédon, Gaël Raymond, Hyman, Jeffrey De’Haven, Inzoli, Fabio, Riva, Monica, & Guadagnini, Alberto. Influence of capillary end effects on steady-state relative permeability estimates from direct pore-scale simulations. United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5009075
Guédon, Gaël Raymond, Hyman, Jeffrey De’Haven, Inzoli, Fabio, Riva, Monica, and Guadagnini, Alberto. Thu .
"Influence of capillary end effects on steady-state relative permeability estimates from direct pore-scale simulations". United States. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5009075. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1467331.
@article{osti_1467331,
title = {Influence of capillary end effects on steady-state relative permeability estimates from direct pore-scale simulations},
author = {Guédon, Gaël Raymond and Hyman, Jeffrey De’Haven and Inzoli, Fabio and Riva, Monica and Guadagnini, Alberto},
abstractNote = {In this study, we investigate and characterize the influence of capillary end effects on steady-state relative permeabilities obtained in pore-scale numerical simulations of two-phase flows. Our study is motivated by the observation that capillary end effects documented in two-phase laboratory-scale experiments can significantly influence permeability estimates. While numerical simulations of two-phase flows in reconstructed pore-spaces are increasingly employed to characterize relative permeabilities, a phenomenon which is akin to capillary end effects can also arise in such analyses due to the constraints applied at the boundaries of the computational domain. We profile the relative strength of these capillary end effects on the calculation of steady-state relative permeabilities obtained within randomly generated porous micro-structures using a finite volume-based two-phase flow solver. Finally, we suggest a procedure to estimate the extent of the regions influenced by these capillary end effects, which in turn allows for the alleviation of bias in the estimation of relative permeabilities.},
doi = {10.1063/1.5009075},
journal = {Physics of Fluids},
number = 12,
volume = 29,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Dec 28 00:00:00 EST 2017},
month = {Thu Dec 28 00:00:00 EST 2017}
}
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