Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 29, 2025

Pore-scale Imaging and Characterization of Hydrocarbon Reservoir Rock Wettability at Subsurface Conditions Using X-ray Microtomography
Published on: October 21, 2018
Seepage Characteristics of Mixed-Wettability Porous Media on the Phase-Field Model
Shaojie Chen1, Jicheng Zhang1, M Zaki Mohammed1,2
1College of Energy and Mining Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao 266590, China.
Abstract:
Clarifying the microscale gas-water flow behaviors in a mixed wettability reservoir is of great importance for underground engineering. A numerical model of mixed wettability based on circular particles was constructed using the MATLAB stochastic distribution program, and the gas-water flow was simulated based on the phase-field method. The Navier-Stokes equations were solved by the finite element method. The work analyzed the effects of the content of heterogeneous wetting particles, wettability, and inversed wettability of the matrix on the flow path and pressure distribution of the mixed wettability model. Besides, the two-phase flow behaviors were evaluated in microscale mixed-wettability porous media. The simulation results revealed that (i) the residual saturation of the gas phase showed a positive correlation with the hydrophobic particle content, and closed gases only existed in isolated pore channels with small content. Isolated closed gases gradually connected as the content increased. (ii) The residual gas content in the corner and tail end increased as the hydrophobicity of particles increased in hydrophilic matrices. Hydrophobic matrices showed a negative correlation, with the greatest pressure drop due to capillary resistance and step changes in the neutral-hydrophobic transition zone. (iii) Water-phase breakthrough time and gas-phase residual saturation showed a negative correlation change. The more space occupied by the gas phase, the faster the water-phase breakthrough. Moreover, the saturation no longer changes after the breakthrough. The work provides a guideline for determining the dominant flow path of phase displacements and the distribution of residual phases.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Plane Potential Flows
Uniform...
Uniform Depth Channel Flow
Permeability of Concrete
Porosity and Absorption of Aggregate
When all pores in an aggregate are filled with water, the aggregate is considered saturated and surface-dry. If left in dry air, water will evaporate until the...
Porosity in Cement Paste
The balance of water to cement in the mix is...
Typical Model Studies

