Open Access

ARTICLE

Numerical Simulation of a Two-Phase Flow with Low Permeability and a Start-Up Pressure Gradient

by Xuanyu Dong^1,*, Jingyao Yang²

1 School of Geosciences, Yangtze University, Wuhan, 430100, China
2 Gas Production Plant 5, Changqing Oilfield Company of PetroChina, Xi’an, 710000, China

* Corresponding Author: Xuanyu Dong. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Meshless, Mesh-Based and Mesh-Reduction Methods Based Analysis of Fluid Flow in Porous Media)

Fluid Dynamics & Materials Processing 2023, 19(1), 175-185. https://doi.org/10.32604/fdmp.2022.021345

Received 10 January 2022; Accepted 20 April 2022; Issue published 02 August 2022

Abstract

A new numerical model for low-permeability reservoirs is developed. The model incorporates the nonlinear characteristics of oil-water two-phase flows while taking into account the initiation pressure gradient. Related numerical solutions are obtained using a finite difference method. The correctness of the method is demonstrated using a two-dimensional inhomogeneous low permeability example. Then, the differences in the cumulative oil and water production are investigated for different starting water saturations. It is shown that when the initial water saturation grows, the water content of the block continues to rise and the cumulative oil production gradually decreases.

---

Keywords

---