Study of Fingering Dynamics of Two Immiscible Fluids in a Homogeneous Porous Medium with Considering Wettability Effects Using a Pore-Scale Multicomponent Lattice Boltzmann Model

Abstract

In the present study, a pore-scale multicomponent lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is employed for the investigation of the immiscible-phase fluid displacement in a homogeneous porous medium. The viscous fingering and the stable displacement regimes of the invading fluid in the medium are quantified which is beneficial for predicting flow patterns in pore-scale structures, where an experimental study is extremely difficult. Herein, the Shan-Chen (S-C) model is incorporated with an appropriate collision model for computing the interparticle interaction between the immiscible fluids and the interfacial dynamics. Firstly, the computational technique is validated by a comparison of the present results obtained for different benchmark flow problems with those reported in the literature. Then, the penetration of an invading fluid into the porous medium is studied at different flow conditions. The effect of the capillary number (Ca), dynamic viscosity ratio (M), and the surface wettability defined by the contact angle (θ) are investigated on the flow regimes and characteristics. The obtained results show that for M<1, the viscous fingering regime appears by driving the invading fluid through the pore structures due to the viscous force and capillary force. However, by increasing the dynamic viscosity ratio and the capillary number, the invading fluid penetrates even in smaller pores and the stable displacement regime occurs. By the increment of the capillary number, the pressure difference between the two sides of the porous medium increases, so that the pressure drop Δp along with the domain at θ=40∘ is more than that of computed for θ=80∘. The present study shows that the value of wetting fluid saturation Sw at θ=40∘ is larger than its value computed with θ=80∘ that is due to the more tendency of the hydrophilic medium to absorb the wetting fluid at θ=40∘. Also, it is found that the magnitude of Sw computed for both the contact angles is decreased by the increment of the viscosity ratio from Log(M)=−1 to 1. The present study demonstrates that the S-C LBM is an efficient and accurate computational method to quantitatively estimate the flow characteristics and interfacial dynamics through the porous medium.