ISSN:
0001-1541
Keywords:
Chemistry
;
Chemical Engineering
Source:
Wiley InterScience Backfile Collection 1832-2000
Topics:
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Process Engineering, Biotechnology, Nutrition Technology
Notes:
A computer-aided simulator of steady-state two-phase flow in consolidated porous media is developed. The porous medium is modeled as a 3-D pore network of suitably shaped and randomly sized unit cells of the constricted-tube type. The problem of two-phase flow is solved using the network approach. The wetting phase saturation, the viscosity ratio, the capillary number, and the probability of coalescence between two colliding ganglia are changed systematically, whereas the geometrical and topological characteristics of the porous medium and wettability (dynamic contact angles) are kept constant. In the range of the parameter values investigated, the flow behavior observed is ganglion population dynamics (intrinsically unsteady, but giving a time-averaged steady state). The mean ganglion size and fraction of the nonwetting phase in the form of stranded ganglia are studied as functions of the main dimensionless parameters. Fractional flows and relative permeabilities are determined and correlated with flow phenomena at pore level. Effects of the wetting phase saturation, the viscosity ratio, the capillary number, and the coalescence factor on relative permeabilities are examined.
Additional Material:
19 Ill.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/aic.690420207
