Several soil decontamination processes and enhanced oil recovery techniques involve the co-existence of three immiscible fluids, such as water, a nonaqueous phase liquid and a gas. In this work, a computational framework based on the individual mass balance of each phase is developed, aimed at simulating three-phase flow in a deformable rock through the finite element method, without resorting to specific simplifications that are usually required by standard numerical schemes. Key ingredients of the model are: expression of the residual in terms of mass contents, consistent lumping of the storage terms in the residual and algorithmic (tangent) matrix, consistent integration rules, the use of a minimum relative permeability and a time marching scheme based on trapezoidal integration. Special convective boundary conditions are adopted for pressures to be consistent with the assumed rock wettability properties during co-current imbibition. The resulting numerical scheme can deal with arbitrary saturation and/or pressure boundary conditions. The model is tested by simulating gas injection tests, and both co- and counter-current water imbibition tests, in a deformable core. To assess the performance and robustness of the whole framework, sensitivity analyses are performed upon varying key constitutive, loading and numerical parameters.
A computational framework for immiscible three-phase flow in deformable porous media / A. Gajo, F. Cecinato, B. Loret. - In: JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING. - ISSN 0920-4105. - 165(2018 Jun), pp. 516-534.
Titolo: | A computational framework for immiscible three-phase flow in deformable porous media |
Autori: | |
Parole Chiave: | capillary pressures; finite element; gas injection; imbibition; immiscible fluids; relative permeabilities; time marching scheme; fuel technology; geotechnical engineering and engineering geology |
Settore Scientifico Disciplinare: | Settore ICAR/07 - Geotecnica Settore ING-IND/30 - Idrocarburi e Fluidi del Sottosuolo |
Data di pubblicazione: | giu-2018 |
Rivista: | |
Tipologia: | Article (author) |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2018.01.026 |
Appare nelle tipologie: | 01 - Articolo su periodico |
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