Pore scale modelling of Three-Phase Capillary Pressure Curves Directly in Uniformly-Wet Rock Images

Yingfang Zhou* (Corresponding Author), Dimitrios G. Hatzignatiou, Johan Olav Helland, Yulong Zhao, Jianchao Cai

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

n this work we developed a semi-analytical model to compute threephase capillary pressure curves and associated fluid-configurations for gas invasion in uniformly-wet rock images. The fluid-configurations and favorable capillary entry pressures are determined based on free energy minimization by combining all physically allowed three-phase arc menisci. The model was first validated against analytical solutions developed in a starshape pore space, and subsequently employed on an SEM image of Bentheim sandstone. The simulated fluid-configurations shows similar oil-layer behavior as previously imaged three-phase fluid-configurations. The simulate saturation path indicate that the oil-water capillary pressure can be described as a function of the water saturation only. The gas-oil capillary pressure can be represented as a function of gas saturation in the majority part of the three-phase region. While the three-phase displacements slightly reduce the accuracy of such representation. At small oil saturations, the gas-oil capillary pressure depends strongly on two phase saturations.
Original languageEnglish
Article number6622079
Number of pages15
JournalGeoFluids
Volume2020
Issue numberSpecial Issue
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Jan 2021

Bibliographical note

Acknowledgments:
The early stages of this research work were funded by the Research Council of Norway through the CLIMIT program, ConocoPhillips and the Ekofisk co-venturers, including TOTAL, ENI, Statoil and Petoro. Dr. Yingfang Zhou would like to acknowledge the support from State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation (Southwest Petroleum University), PLN201602, to finalize this work. Professor Dimitrios G. Hatzignatiou acknowledges financial support received from the University of Houston to complete the present work.

Keywords

  • three-phase flow
  • Capillary Pressure Curves
  • Fluid Configurations
  • 2D Rock Images
  • Uniformly Wet Porous Medium

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