Abstract
Snap-off is an important dynamic multiphase flow phenomenon which occurs in porous media. It plays a dominant role in the residual trapping and mobilization/immobilization of nonwetting fluids such as hydrocarbons or CO₂. Current studies, applications, and threshold criteria of snap-off are mostly based on static or equilibrium conditions. Thus, the dynamics of snap-off which is relevant for many real world applications has rarely been systematically studied. While a static criterion indicates the snap-off potential for nonwetting fluids, the competition between the time required for snap-off and the local pore throat capillary number determines whether snap-off actually occurs. Using a theoretical model to couple the wetting film thickness to the local capillary number at the pore throat, we analyzed the dynamics of the wetting/nonwetting interface instability in sinusoidally constricted capillary tubes. The influence of dynamic factors as encapsulated by the effect of local capillary number on nonwetting fluid snap-off time were investigated for varying pore throat to pore body aspect ratio and pore body distances. The analysis showed that snap-off can be inhibited by a sufficiently large local capillary number even in cases where the static snap-off criterion has been met.
Recommended Citation
W. Deng et al., "Influence of Dynamic Factors on Nonwetting Fluid Snap-Off in Pores," Water Resources Research, vol. 51, no. 11, pp. 9182 - 9189, American Geophysical Union (AGU), Nov 2015.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1002/2015WR017261
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Keywords and Phrases
Aspect ratio; Carbon dioxide; Film thickness; Interfaces (materials); Multiphase flow; Porous materials; Wetting; Capillary numbers; Dynamic factors; Equilibrium conditions; Interface Instability; Non-wetting fluids; OFF time; Pore scale; Theoretical modeling; Capillarity; Carbon dioxide; Hydrocarbon; Hydrological modeling; Immobilization; Mobilization; Multiphase flow; Porous medium; Local capillary number; Snap-off time
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0043-1397; 1944-7973
Document Type
Article - Journal
Document Version
Final Version
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2015 American Geophysical Union (AGU), All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Nov 2015
Comments
This material is based upon work supported as part of the Center for Frontiers of Subsurface Energy Security(CFSES) at the University of Texas at Austin, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Departmentof Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Award Number DE-SC0001114.