Effect of shear-thinning of non-Newtonian fluid on the crossover from capillary fingering to viscous fingering in porous media
Physics Letters A(2022)
Abstract
In this study, we constructed the pore network model for simulation of non-Newtonian two-phase flow. The pore network is initially saturated with the Ellis non-Newtonian fluid and water is then injected with various capillary numbers to simulate water flooding. We observed that there is also a crossover from the capillary fingering to the viscous fingering. In the crossover, the invading fluid tends to fill large-radius pipes, forming a small number of flow paths and low invading fluid saturation. The results show that the stronger the shear-thinning of the Ellis fluid, the easier it is for the injected fluid to invade the smaller-radius pipe, thereby suppressing viscous fingering and increasing the displacement efficiency, resulting in a smaller crossover zone. The findings of this study can help for a better understanding of the complex fluid-fluid displacement patterns in porous media for improving geological CO2 sequestration and enhanced oil recovery.
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Key words
Porous media,Capillary fingering,Viscous fingering,Non-Newtonian fluid,Dynamic network simulation
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