| Time: |
January 26, 2010 |
| Lecturer: |
Dr. Adam Szymkiewicz
Gdansk University of Technology (GUT), Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of Geotechnics, Geology and Marine Engineering |
| Venue: |
Pfaffenwaldring 61, Raum U1.003 (MML), Universität Stuttgart
|
| Download as iCal: |
|
A mathematical model for capillary-dominated two-phase flow in aheterogeneous porous medium is presented. The medium contains coarsetextured disconnected inclusions embedded in fine-textured backgroundmaterial. The background material is characterized by higher non-wettingphase entry pressure than the inclusions. During the displacement of thenon-wetting fluid by the wetting one some portions of the non-wettingfluid become trapped in the inclusions. On the other hand, if the mediumis initially saturated with the wetting phase, it starts to drain onlyafter the capillary pressure exceeds the entry pressure of the backgroundmaterial. These effects cannot be represented by standard upscalingapproaches based on the assumption of local equilibrium of the capillarypressure. We propose a relevant modification of the upscaled modelobtained by asymptotic homogenization. The modification concerns the formof flow equations and the calculation of the effective hydraulicfunctions. The presented approach is illustrated with numerical examplesconcerning oil-water and CO2-brine flow.
