Shan‐and‐Chen‐type multiphase lattice Boltzmann study of viscous coupling effects for two‐phase flow in porous media

Abstract

Abstract In this paper, the Shan–Chen‐type (SC) multiphase lattice Boltzmann model was used to study the viscous coupling effects for immiscible two‐phase flow in porous media. In the model, any typical equation of state can be incorporated and different contact angles of the gas–liquid interface at a solid wall can be obtained easily through adjusting the ‘density of wall’ (Benzi et al ., Phys. Rev. E 2006; 74 (2):021509). The viscous coupling effects due to capillary number, the viscosity ratio and the wetting angle were investigated. The two‐phase flows with density ratio as high as 56 in porous media were simulated. For different viscosity ratios and wettability, two‐phase flow patterns and relative‐permeability curves as a function of wetting saturation were obtained. It is observed that when the wetting phase is less viscous and covers the solid surface, the relative permeability of the non‐wetting phase may be greater than unity. Here, the SC model is demonstrated as a suitable tool to study the immiscible two‐phase flow in porous media because it is simple, easy to get the desired contact angle and able to simulate immiscible phase flow with high‐density ratio. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.