The effect of pore throat size and injection flowrate on the determination and sensitivity of different capillary number values at high-capillary-number flow in porous media

Abstract

This study examines the effect of pore throat size and injection flowrate on the values of the pore-scale capillary number, the Newtonian-fluid capillary number and the apparent capillary number (Nc1, Nc2 and Nc3, respectively) and their sensitivity to change in high-capillary-number flow through porous media, which occurs in polymer-assisted dilute surfactant flooding (PADSF). Additionally, the influence of pore throat size and injection flowrate on oil recovery at breakthrough and at the end of displacement (ultimate) and the relationship between the effective shear rate γeff and the porous medium-dependent shift factor α are discussed. The results indicated that Nc2 was the smallest and Nc3 was the largest value. The difference between Nc2 and Nc3 is due to the increase in apparent viscosity of the polymer-contained surfactant solution during the flow through porous media and the change in Nc3 should be utilized to characterize the macroscopic behavior of the PADSF. Generally, the decrease in pore throat size and the increase in injection flowrate caused an increase in the ultimate oil recovery and Nc3. Moreover, the oil recovery at breakthrough decreased with an increase in pore throat size and injection flowrate. Finally, the rate of change of γeff, with change in α, increased almost uniformly with a decrease in pore throat size and an increase in injection flowrate.