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Unified Model of Drainage and Imbibition in 3D Fractionally Wet Porous Media

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Abstract

We develop a grain-based model for capillarity controlled displacement within 3D fractionally wet porous media. The model is based on a novel local calculation of the position of stable fluid–fluid interfaces in contact with multiple spherical grains of arbitrary contact angles. The interface is assumed to be locally spherical between bulk phases; the interface is assumed to be toroidal between pairs of grains (surfaces of pendular rings). Because the calculation of interface position is entirely local and grain-based, it provides a single, generalized, geometric basis for computing pore-filling events during drainage as well as imbibition with both Melrose events (merging of two interfaces) and Haines events (geometric instability). The model is validated against a series of drainage/imbibition experiments (oil/water) on fractionally wet porous media prepared by mixing oil-wet grains with water-wet grains.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Cynthia Thane and Javad Behseresht for providing the sphere packing and the Delaunay tessellation of the sphere packing. This study was in part supported by Department of Energy Grant DE-FC26-04NT15518.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. BP Inc., Wayne, NJ, USA

    Siyavash Motealleh

  2. The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Mandana Ashouripashaki, David DiCarlo & Steven Bryant

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  1. Siyavash Motealleh
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  2. Mandana Ashouripashaki
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  3. David DiCarlo
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  4. Steven Bryant
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Correspondence to David DiCarlo.

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Motealleh, S., Ashouripashaki, M., DiCarlo, D. et al. Unified Model of Drainage and Imbibition in 3D Fractionally Wet Porous Media. Transp Porous Med 99, 581–611 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-013-0201-7

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