Capillary Pressure-Saturation Modeling via Pore Network Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for determining capillary pressure-saturation relationships in porous media are logistically challenging, time-consuming, expensive, and often require complex computations, limiting their application to smaller sample sizes and prone to numerical instabilities.
Innovation Solution
An analytical methodology that generates capillary pressure-saturation relationships using average pore properties instead of complete pore size distribution, requiring fewer input parameters and capable of simulating behavior from any sample size, implemented through simple analytical calculations and software applications.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If direct numerical simulation (DNS) is used to solve Navier-Stokes equations on pore-scale images, then prediction accuracy of capillary pressure-saturation relationship is improved, but computational cost and memory requirements increase prohibitively
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex pore-scale simulation problem into a simplified pore network model that captures essential physics while reducing computational complexity. The porous media is represented as a network of interconnected pores and throats with simplified geometries, allowing accurate prediction of capillary pressure-saturation relationships without solving full Navier-Stokes equations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameters of the simulation by using simplified geometric representations (spheres and cylinders) instead of complex pore-scale images, and by using analytical solutions for capillary pressure rather than numerical solutions to Navier-Stokes equations. This parameter simplification dramatically reduces computational cost while maintaining predictive accuracy.
2Productivity
If pore-network modelling (PNM) is used to simulate fluid flow through larger domains, then computational expense is reduced and domain size is increased, but the method still requires complex coding and has limited sample size applicability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the system to automatically generate pore network models and predict capillary pressure-saturation relationships without requiring complex user coding. The methodology uses analytical solutions and automated algorithms that eliminate the need for sophisticated programming, making the tool accessible to users without advanced computational expertise.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses simplified geometric representations (basic spheres and cylinders) instead of complex, computationally intensive pore-scale images. These simplified geometric objects are computationally inexpensive to process and can be rapidly generated and discarded, enabling fast simulations without the need for complex coding structures.
3Measurement precision
If experimental methods such as mercury intrusion capillary pressure (MICP) are used to determine capillary pressure-saturation relationships, then accurate empirical data is obtained, but the methods are logistically challenging, time-consuming, and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces physical experimental methods (mechanical mercury intrusion, centrifugal separation) with computational modeling based on analytical solutions. Instead of physically injecting mercury into core samples or spinning samples in centrifuges, the system uses mathematical models to predict capillary pressure-saturation relationships, eliminating the time-consuming and logistically challenging experimental procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates computational copies of the physical system rather than performing physical experiments. By modeling the porous media structure and fluid behavior mathematically, the system reproduces the capillary pressure-saturation relationship without needing to physically manipulate samples, thereby eliminating experimental time constraints and logistical challenges.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach provides fast, accurate, and inexpensive estimation of capillary pressure-saturation data, reducing the need for expensive experiments and time-consuming numerical simulations, and is applicable to various industries, including oil and gas, energy, and environment.
Implementation Method 1
Capillary pressure, defined as the pressure difference across a fluid-fluid interface, is an important factor in characterizing the dynamics of immiscible displacement within porous media.
Implementation Method 2
The one or more input parameters include an interfacial tension along an interface between a wetting fluid and a non-wetting fluid
Implementation Method 3
a contact angle between the interface and a pore wall of the porous media
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure provides for generating multiphase flow properties of porous media based on one or more input parameters. For instance, the multiphase flow properties may be a capillary pressure-saturation relationship for the porous media. The one or more input parameters include an interfacial tension along an interface between a wetting fluid and a non-wetting fluid, a contact angle between the interface and a pore wall of the porous media, and a pore throat size. The pore throat size is based on subparameters including a saturation of the wetting fluid, a saturation of the non-wetting fluid, a porosity of the porous media, and an orientation angle between a representative pore body size and a representative pore throat size.