Percolation Theory of Two-Phase Relative Permeability
- 1 February 1992
- journal article
- conference paper
- Published by Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) in SPE Reservoir Engineering
- Vol. 7 (01) , 123-132
- https://doi.org/10.2118/11015-pa
Abstract
Summary: This paper uses statistical concepts, some borrowed from the percolation theory of disordered media, to develop a theory of two-phase relative permeabilities in regimes in which one phase is strongly wetting. Inputs to the theory are a network model of pore space, the distributions of pore-throat radii, and functions that relate pore-throat conductance and volume to its radius. The theory with a network model of pore space and several simple statistical distributions of pore dimensions, is found to predict all observed trends in two-phase relative permeabilities of systems in which one phase is strongly wetting. Moreover, the inputs to the theory can be adjusted to fit experimental data closely.Keywords
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