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Multiphase Flow in Porous Media pp 77–103Cite as

Three-Phase Flow and Gravity Drainage in Porous Media

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Abstract

We present a theoretical and experimental treatment of three-phase flow in water-wet porous media from the molecular level upwards. Many three-phase systems in polluted soil and oil reservoirs have a positive initial spreading coefficient, which means that oil spontaneously spreads as a layer between water and gas. We compute the thickness and stability of this oil layer and show that appreciable recovery of oil by drainage only occurs when the oil layer occupies crevices or roughness in the pore space. We then analyze the distribution of oil, water and gas in vertical equilibrium for a spreading system, which is governed by α = γ oω (ρ o − ρ g )/γ go (ρ ω − ρ o ), where γ ow and γ go are the oil/water and gas/oil interfacial tensions respectively, and ρ g , ρ o and ρ ω are the gas, oil and water densities respectively. If a > 1, there is a height above the oil/water contact, beyond which connected oil only exists as a molecular film, with a negligible saturation. This height is independent of the structure of the porous medium. When α < 1, large quantities of oil remain in the pore space and gravity drainage is not efficient. If the initial spreading coefficient is negative, oil can be trapped and the recovery is also poor. We performed gravity drainage experiments in sand columns and capillary tubes which confirmed our predictions.

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Abbreviations

c:

speed of light (Appendix A)

c:

conductance factor (Appendix B)

Cs :

spreading coefficient

g:

x acceleration due to gravity

h:

height

H:

height of the oil column

J:

capillary pressure function

J*:

threshold curvature

P:

pressure

Pc :

capillary pressure

Q:

drainage rate

r:

radius of curvature

S:

saturation

t:

oil-layer thickness

td :

drainage time

T:

temperature

V:

oil volume

w:

water-layer thickness

z:

elevation

zc :

critical height

α:

ratio, Equation (5.11)

γ:

interfacial tension

λ:

capillary-pressure exponent

II:

disjoining pressure

ρ:

density

g:

gas

o:

oil

w:

water

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Petroleum Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305-2220, USA

    Martin Blunt, Dengen Zhou & Darryl Fenwick

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  1. Martin Blunt
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  2. Dengen Zhou
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, France

    Pierre M. Adler

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© 1995 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Blunt, M., Zhou, D., Fenwick, D. (1995). Three-Phase Flow and Gravity Drainage in Porous Media. In: Adler, P.M. (eds) Multiphase Flow in Porous Media. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2372-5_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-2372-5_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-4645-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-2372-5

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