Modeling of Two-Phase Flow in Rough-Walled Fracture Using Level Set Method

Abstract EN

To describe accurately the flow characteristic of fracture scale displacements of immiscible fluids, an incompressible two-phase (crude oil and water) flow model incorporating interfacial forces and nonzero contact angles is developed.

The roughness of the two-dimensional synthetic rough-walled fractures is controlled with different fractal dimension parameters.

Described by the Navier–Stokes equations, the moving interface between crude oil and water is tracked using level set method.

The method accounts for differences in densities and viscosities of crude oil and water and includes the effect of interfacial force.

The wettability of the rough fracture wall is taken into account by defining the contact angle and slip length.

The curve of the invasion pressure-water volume fraction is generated by modeling two-phase flow during a sudden drainage.

The volume fraction of water restricted in the rough-walled fracture is calculated by integrating the water volume and dividing by the total cavity volume of the fracture while the two-phase flow is quasistatic.

The effect of invasion pressure of crude oil, roughness of fracture wall, and wettability of the wall on two-phase flow in rough-walled fracture is evaluated.