Predictive Theory for Viscous Fingering in Compositional Displacement

Abstract

Summary A theory of compositional viscous fingering with no adjustable parameters that reduces to the Todd and Longstaff model for miscible floods is presented. The theory gives excellent predictive agreement with simulation results for a wide range of recovery processes. The high-resolution compositional simulations used to validate the theory are the first to resolve viscous fingering adequately in flow other than miscible flow.