Lattice Boltzmann simulation of chemical dissolution in porous media

In this paper, we develop a lattice Boltzmann model for simulating the transport and reaction of fluids in porous media. To simulate such a system, we account for the interaction of forced convection, molecular diffusion, and surface reaction. The problem is complicated by the evolution of the porous media geometry due to chemical reactions, which may significantly and continuously modify the hydrologic properties of the media. The particular application that motivates the present study is acid stimulation, a common technique used to increase production from petroleum reservoirs. This technique involves the injection of acid (e.g., hydrochloric acid, HCl, acetic acid, HAc) into the formation to dissolve minerals comprising the rock. As acid is injected, highly conductive channels or "wormholes" may be formed. The dissolution of carbonate rocks in 0.5M HCl and 0.5M HAc is simulated with the lattice Boltzmann model developed in this study. The dependence of dissolution process and the geometry of the final wormhole pattern on the acid type and the injection rate is studied. The results agree qualitatively with the experimental and theoretical analyses of others and substantiate the previous finding that there exists an optimal injection rate at which the wormhole is formed as well as the number of pore volumes of the injected fluid to break through is minimized. This study also confirms the experimentally observed phenomenon that the optimal injection rate decreases and the corresponding minimized number of pore volumes to break through increases as the acid is changed from HCl to HAc. Simulations suggest that the proposed lattice Boltzmann model may serve as an alternative reliable quantitative approach to study chemical dissolution in porous media.