Pore Level Investigation of Wettability Effect on Waterflood Performance

ABSTRACT

A direct quasi-static pore-scale modeling approach is implemented in a simulation package to reconstruct interfacial areas and predict two-phase fluid occupancy profiles during drainage and imbibition at low capillary number equilibria. The proposed pixel-wised algorithm is equipped by a novel object-based up-scaling methodology and is applied to three-dimensional consolidated and unconsolidated pore-level domains with uniform and non-uniform contact angle distributions. Stationary finite element simulations are conducted in partially saturated microstructures to provide the electrical and hydraulic conductivity predictions. The post-processing results present capillary pressure and relative permeability curves and the ad hoc parameters of Archie’s law including tortuosity and formation factors, and cementation and saturation exponents. The data gathered in this study highlights the significant role of wettability in shaping the electrical and fluid flow pathways and reveals the impacts of cementation, rock configuration, conductive phase saturation, and two-phase spatial distributions on the flow of electric charges and petrophysical description of geological formations.

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