Influence of Fluid Properties on Oil Drainage Multiphase Flow in a Complex Pore Network

Abstract

Fluid flow as two-phase in porous media is found in many processes, for example in enhanced oil recovery (EOR). That is why understanding the flow behavior at the pore scale is essential for the efficient exploitation of an oil reservoir. The fluid properties modeling is modeled for oil drainage systems, in which the investigation measures the main factor that affects the fluid behavior in a complex pore network, mainly focused on Reynolds number, and capillary pressure. In this study, the Darcy-Brinkman multiphase approach will be used, using an open-source in OpenFOAM to simulate two-phase flow for a complex pore network, including regions without solids and porous matrices. The main results indicate that fluid properties have an important impact on oil drainage, by reducing the volume of oil recovery due to the presence of the solid region. The fluid properties influenced the fluid flow in a complex porous medium, it is observed when the Reynold number was changed, and this behavior is in concordance of fluid flow at the microscale (pore-scale).