Viscous fluids flow in porous media.
- Paper number
IAC-06-A2.4.06
- Author
Prof. Nickolay N. Smirnov, Moscow Lomonosov State University, Russia
- Coauthor
Dr. Vladislav Dushin, Moscow Lomonosov State University, Russia
- Coauthor
Dr. Valeriy Nikitin, Moscow Lomonosov State University, Russia
- Coauthor
Dr. Oleg Ivashnyov, Moscow Lomonosov State University, Russia
- Coauthor
Mr. Oleg Logvinov, Moscow Lomonosov State University, Russia
- Coauthor
Mr. M. Thiercellin, Russia
- Coauthor
Prof. Jean Claude Legros, University of Brussels, Belgium
- Year
2006
- Abstract
Fundamental results of microgravity investigations serve as a powerful tool, which could help to solve modern problems of terrestrial engineering and technology. Flows in porous media could be much better understood in microgravity studies eliminating the masking effects of gravity. In frontal displacement of a more viscous fluid by a less viscous one the Rayleigh-Taylor or Saffman-Taylor instability of the interface could bring to formation and growth of “fingers” of gas penetrating the bulk fluid. The growth of fingers and their further coalescence could not be described by the linear analysis. Growth of fingers causes irregularity of the mixing zone. The tangential velocity difference on the interface separating fluids of different density and viscosity could bring to a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability resulting in “diffusion of fingers” partial regularization of the displacement mixing zone. Thus combination of the two effects would govern the flow in the displacement process. The problem is relevant to a hydrocarbon recovery, which is performed by the flow of gas under a pressure differential displacing the high viscosity fluid. There are inherent instability and scalability problems associated with viscous fingering that play a key role in the procedure. Entrapment of high viscosity fluid by the low viscosity fluid flow lowers down the quality of a hydrocarbon recovery leaving the most of viscous fluid entrapped thus decreasing the production rate. The developed models and obtained results are applicable to description of liquid non-aqueous phase contaminants underground migration, their entrapment in the zones of inhomogenity, and forecasting the results of remediatory activities in the vicinities of waste storages and contaminated sites. The goal of the present study was to investigate numerically the instability of the displacement of viscous fluid by a less viscous one in a two-dimensional three-dimensional porous specimens. The effect of the three-dimensional phenomena on development of instability was investigated. Another goal of the present study was to investigate analytically Saffman-Taylor and Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in displacement and flushing of a highly viscous fluid by a less viscous one. The results of previous investigations showed that for immiscible fluids accounting for surface tension allows to determine characteristic length scale of instability (width of viscous fingers). While for miscible fluids linear analysis obtaining analytical dependences of fingers width on values of governing parameters was proved to be impossible. The novelty of results presented in the paper is that taking into account small viscous terms and using Navier-Stokes system of equations instead of Darcy model allowed to obtain analytical solutions determining finger thickness for miscible fluids. The authors wish to acknowledge the support by President Grant of Russia (19.2003.1) NATO Scientific and Environmental affairs division (Grant ESP.CLG.981711).
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
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