I Socioty

of Petfofaum
Englnasm
I

SPE 28641

Some Theoretical Aspects of Gravity Drainage in Naturally Fractured

Reservoirs
Zhi-An Luan, University
SPE Member

of Petroleusn,Dong-Ying, China

Copyright
1994,
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ofPetroleum
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SPEDAL.
(gravity,capillary, viscous,diffusive
and
relaxation) .
However, the
experimental
and
theoretical
research
on
gravity
drainage
mechanism
in naturally
fractured
reservoirs is limited. Bogomolova
and Glazova(1970)1 have observed the
end
effects
and
saturation
discontinuities on the boundaries of
unconsolidated
porous
media
with
some
different
permeability.
Hagoort(1980)12 used the classical
Buckley-Leverett theory to study the
gravity
drainage
in
homogeneous
media,and
indicated
that
oil
relative
permeability
is
a
key
factor
in
the
gravity-drainage
process.
Barenblatts
workl]
investigated
the end effects
in
heterogeneous media.
Recent experiments and observations
by Firoozabadi and his co-worker
(1992)5, Catalan and Dullien(1992)9
prompted us to reexamine the gravity
drainage mechanism. This study has
tried
to
examine
from
both
a
mathematical
and
a
physiical
viewpoint
the
key
features
of
gravity
drainage
in a stack of
matrix blocks. We present critical
analytical and numerical solutions
of
the
reimbibition
model
and
discuss the effect of nonequilibrium
phenomena
upon
the
saturation

Abstract
The
mathematical model of gravity
drainage
in
natural ly
fractured
reservoirs and singular perturbation
analyses are presented which explore
the ef feet of capillary, gravity, and
nettability
on
oil
saturation
distribution
and oil recovery in
reimbibition. This study shows that
wettebility
,capillary end effect
and fracture transmissibility appear
to be most important factors in oil
recovery. Numerical results are also
presented
which
summarize
and
compare the effective saturation in
nonequilibrium state with the actual
saturation
in equilibrium
state.
Based
on
work, we
this
believe
reimbibition or capillary continuity
in a stack of matrix blocks can not
provide higher oil recovery than in
continuity core.

Introduction
In recent years, growing attention
has been focused on reimbibition and
capillary
cent inuity
in
gravity
process is
drainage. M Rei~ibition
closely related to various forces
357

distribution
recovery.

profile

that the saturation of oil phase is

the following form

oil

and

Model
and
Mathematical
Solutions
of Gravity Drainage

So(z=o,

naturally
Gravity
drainage
in
fractured reservoirs is an important
which
recovery
mechanism
in
and
gravity, capillary,viscous
diffusive are fundamental forces.
Relaxation
is a more complicated
combination of the above forces and
actions. Gravity drainage can be
considered as a displacement process
in which gas displaces oil. In other
words,if gravity force and capillary
force are taken into account,gravity
drainage in a stack of matrix blocks
without forced gas injection can be
gas
described
as
if
there
is
injection at the top of the core
stack. Since the gas mobility is
relatively high the potential drop
in the gas phase is negligible. The
gas potential can be written as12

t)=sol

(6)

It means that if oil is nonwetting

phase,then oil can move out of the
matrix block by imbibition into the
this
above
free
space(zcO) ,then
condition can be satisfied only if a
Flgil Saturation

Profile

I,t
So
I

1,1
1,1

t
1,4
1,1

I
Zd
DM
Ia!llll

(1)

o~=p~-p~gz=constant

Darcys flow law of oil phase

given by the following form

is

mixed-wet semi-permeable membrane is

oil
is
wetting
installed.
If
phase,then the condition of a zero
flow velocity of oil phase at 2=0 is
satisfied

(2)

Uo=o

(7)

The continuity equation of oii phase

is

aso+auo=o
$
at
az

The boundary condition at the exit

section of each matrix block depends
on the wetting
state of matrix
medium

(3)

The
capillary
pressure
is
the
pressure difference between the oil
and gas phases in oil wetting case

p==pg-po=aWJ

S(z=li,t)=so.
S(z=li,

(4)

(%)

Using this notation,the equation of

one-dimensional
model
of
reimbibition
in matrix blocks of
naturally fractured reservoirs can
be writt&
in the following form

(oil-wetting)

The nonlinear convection-dominated

nroblem(cBq.5-7)~ingeneral,cannot
be
=
solved m a closed form. We shall
use perturbation approach. Using the
method
of
matched
asymptotic
expansion we seek the solution of
oil saturation distribution
in a
stack
of
matrix
blocks .
This
perturbation
method
breaks
the
problem into three parts,for each of
which the solution has either a
regular perturbation
series or a
singular perturbation series holding
in
some
sub-domain.
The
method

i?S Ap gkk, L%.o+

%+ g x
+~;k=o+o

t)=s;

(non-oil-wetting)

(5)

At the entry section in the stack of

matrix
blocks(z=O),we
can assume

358

the
outer
find
firstly
is
to
. ....-
solution in the regzon oiitsid~ erxl
simple
effect
layer,which
is
a
series.
regular
perturbation
is
Similarly,
an inner solution
found which
holds in end effect
layer. The outer expansion(BuckleyLeverett case) is not suited for the
matrix bottom
boundary nearest the
fracture. On other hand,the fracture
zone can be considered as a constant
which
oil
saturation
zone
in
saturation only depends on the outer
oil
shows
the
solution.
Fig. 1
saturation profile in a stack of
matrix blocks. It clearly shows the
large gradient of oil saturation in
gravity
the
layer.
A
boundary
Buckleydrainage
solution
of
Leverett equation will be used as an
to
determine
outer
solution
saturation in the flow zone away
For
from
matrix
boundaries.
example,if the coefficient Ncg of
capillary
item in Eq. (5) can be
considered as a small parameter,then
-.
.
- ._
~ne
(5)
beccrles th
equa~loii
following Buckley-Leverett
problem
which can be solved by the classical
characteristics method

The above conception implies that

the length of an end effect zone is
the
proportional
to
inversely
force,
and
positively
gravity
proportional to the capillary force.
Eq.5 as the
Then we can write
following form

as.

-$(%J

(12)

(s.)+=O

The inner and outer expansions are

matched over a zone located at the
edge of the boundary layer. We shall
restrict our attention to matching
mu.
(zero) -?+..
.ue. expar.s
tkAs Ieadmg
of imer and outer solutions. In the
zero approximation,we obtain
the inner solution equation

%%?
/SO+ApWgkk,
ds
.o-&=o
-5E
p.

as.

% K;7a

(9)

a(KroJf(So)~)=O

(13)

Prandtls matching condition avoids

the need to choose an arbitrary
the
edge
of
boundary
layer.
Applying
this
condition
to
our
problem leads to

-- i7siiig some special

forms of ~~~
relative permeability and Leverett
function,Hagoort have presented the
analytical
solution of Eq. (9),the
numerical solution and steady state
solution of Eq. (5) in dimensionless
form. But his object mainly was to
overcome the end effect by a new
centrifuge technique.
Clearly the
outer solution only fails to satisfy
the boundary condition(8) . Let us
now consider inner solution or inner
expansion. We introduce a capillary
length scale

The
above
outer
expansion
is
from
Buckley-Leverett
obtained
solution at Z=li. The outer solution
slowly varies in the inner solution
time scale,hence the oil saturation
distribution in the boundary layer
is in the quasi-steady state. On
other hand,using
Eq.ll,we
obtain
variable
that, as
the
stretched
becomes zero ~+O,the inner solution
clearly
satisfies
the
boundary
condition(8) .
The question now is how to determine
the unknown constants of integration
of Eq.13 in order to give the inner
From
the
solution.
above
two
boundary
conditions,it
is
not
difficult
to
determine
the
integration constant,then we have
implicit
the
solution
as
the
following form

(lo)

The inner expansion associated with

the end effect boundary layer is
expressed in term of a stretched
variable

359

s
0 K=O(SO)J (SO)

C=JK,O(SO)-IC=O(SO,)
so
0

K,O(SO)J (S.)

~o_oil-wet

~s

=/
K=O(SO)-K=O(SO,)
s:

oil-wet

~s

(15)

We introduce a new variable &i. e.an

influence degree of end effect,then
the above solution rewritten as

~ ~~

0 K=O(SO)J(SO) ~s

Apoggli$ Kro(so)-K=o(sol)
no:oil-wet

A.-s
rO(sO)J(sO)
ds
ApWgli~:
/ Kro(S.)-Kro(Sol)
oil-wet

Computational results in Fig.1 and

Fig.2 are obtained Qy the explicit
Romberg
and
stheme
difference
integration, respectively. Note that
there is saturation discontinuity
But
this
fracture.
across
any
saturation discontinuity exist only
on the matrix bottom boundaries. (see
Fig.1) To prove that this conclusion
is valid,we can think of gravity
drainage across the boundary between
fracture
as
a
matrix
and
displacement process in which the
of matrix medium is
permeability
k.,of fracture medium is kf.Using the
inner solution model (Eq.12) tinner

Fig.2

Inner
QC-8

;[&,

Solutions
Integrll

w-<-----------------------------------

inwhich A=~=tlm

------------

(16)

------------

,,,

(!,

tall

The inner solution of the above form

describes the relationship between
the influence degree of end effect
and the parameters as gravity force,
capillary
force,wettability.
From
this soiution,we conclude that
(i). When length scales of matrix
are
blocks
in
reimbibition
comparable
the
capillary
with
characteristic
the
scale,then
saturation profile
in the matrix
blocks will be greatly distorted by
capillary end effect.
(ii). Reducing the surface tension
of the liquid can decrease the end
effect. Surfactant solutions provide
a means
of reducing
the energy
required to overcome oil retention
layer.
the
boundary
;~one,et.al presented
works
on
surfactant effects on flow through
fractured porous media,which confirm
that surfactant solutions increase
oil recovery and drainage rateh.
(iii) . The length of an end effect
zone,i.e.
the length of the oil
retention
zcine
.
inversely
proportional to the ~ravity force.
&
gravity energy during gravity
drainage
process
decreases,the
will
capillary
retention
effect
gradually increase.
In Fig.2,the oil saturation profile
~s
m+vnn
~~~~~
diffe~~~~
=----- f~~
which
specific
saturation
values
equate the inner and outer terms.

,,,

t
Bo

U.1,1
-

*,L=,

---------

80.1,1

88.1,4

-----

l,hf,
m4

variables
(Eq.11) and the match
to
condition, it is not difficult
obtain the following form of inner
solution
kro(sy)]
dSO_
I
[l-
k=O(Se)
d~ J~(SO)

(17)

the
Leverett
The
derivative
of
function is always positive for oil
phase in the oil wet or non-oil wet
The function
of relative
media.
permeability %(SJ
increases at all
oil saturation,then it is clear that

~o

at SOX3Ft

2<0

at S0430Wt

dc

(18)

Taking into account the .~titching

and
condition
so (t
+
~)
Eq.18,then
we conclude
t~t
the
downstream saturation So(t>O) mustbe
solution.
It
outer
equal
above
.iMnl+a. +hst
the
hrnmdaw ,
1 aver
*..,&.+-
---------always is at forwardstream of all
In the limiting case
boundaries.
-J

--

The pressure difference of between

the two phases is given by the
followincJ

when
the
permeability
of
the
approaches
an
downstream
medium
infinite permeability:the capillary
end effect in the (fracture) medium
will be neglected(see Fig.1) .

Phenomena
Nonequilibrium
Gravity Drainage

pg-p.=&(K)=a~J(%)

(21)

in
With
equations
_.L ,-
---LJ-..JA.- equa~~on
cunLMmLLy

In some gravity drainage processes,

nonequilibrium phenomena caused by
J1-l_..
,- .---L J--\
*:-LA1lle ue.~ay
[re~axac~onj
!cf
establishing a new equilibrium state
are most important. This is partly
due
to
characteristic
that
the
imbibition time of low-permeability
matrix blocks in gravity drainage
can
be
comparable
to
the
time
required
to
capillary
establish
is
eouilibriurn.and
pressure
=-
,---- it
partly
a reflection
of a great
difference
in
the
permeability
between fracture and matrix systems.
Barenblatt
constructs
a
general
theoretical
framework
for
nonequilibrium
phenomena
in
waterflooding
processes
and
discusses
technique
specific
for
counterblow capillary imbibition.
It is apparent
that for gravity
drainagertwo
move
phases
along
different channels,i.e.the strongly
wetting phase (oil) along narrower
channels and
nonwetting phase
(gas) along wider channels. Then the
displaced oil will come to the wider
channels. Also,a typical case occurs
when oil and gas flow through the
fracture between matrix blocks. For
these
conditions
the
phase
permeability for the wetting phase
is
temporarily
higher,
in
contrast,for
non-wetting
phase is
lower than
that in the equilibrium
state. It implies that there is an
increased saturation of the wetting
phase. It will be assumed that the
difference
between
the effective
saturation and the actual saturation
only depends on the local rate of
variation of the actual saturation
and the relaxation
time for the
nonequilibrium

17,18,19rthe
-
3 ?hefi can be

express as

(22)
The simplest
algorithm
for this
nonlinear
convection-dominated
equation is the FTCS scheme. The
corresponding forward time,centred
finite
space
difference
representation
for
Eq.22
is
constructed by locally freezing the
nonlinear
coefficients.
Let
us
assume the nonlinear coefficients
have the following form

and constants
w=O.25+$;
,- At

-Aza;

nO=0.5L
z

(24)

6=A:2

Then we have the following implicit

finite difference expression

--ii?r-_d
-ajS~~!l+bjS~~l+cjSOj+lj (25)
where

Generalized
written as
i-

Darcys
--~krj(30)VPJ
lJ:2__

(l=Q,g;

law

can

ajo=(~+nO) a(S$)+%P(SOj-l/2)

be

bjo=l+t[p(s$+,/J +p(sojJP6)
Cjo=(m+no) a(S$)+n6P(SOj+112)
(20)
and the right item in the implicit
scheme is
361

d,=
[1-(%-n~) (13j+l/2+i3j-l/2)
1Z

(no-w) a+ (m--m) 13j+112)

1so~+l
- [ (no-%) a- (w-nj ) Pj-,/2) 1 Sj-I

+[

(27)

clear that the coefficients al

,bj, Cj, are function for So and must

It

is

Flg,3

Nonequillbrium
Nco=D.

so
1,t

4
1.1

03,

Effect

Td=D,2

-----------------------.........
E xf+.=-~------~
---=
------I

=-:zz:-.=-=i;-::-l

----------------

becomes a discontinuous tooth form

as shown in Fig.4(b). It is not
true.
In
fact,initial
gravitycapillary
potential
should
be
represented by the profile with an
approximate constant gradient shown
in Fig.4(a) . It is apparent that the
gravity potential at any point in
porous/fractured
system only is a
function
of
height,density
and
gravity acceleration. For the same
liquid the potential depends oniy on
the height. The gravity potential
clearly is independent on contact
property between two matrix blocks.
The contact property only can affect
hydrodynamic
transmissibility
between matrix blocks. The liquid
column,the
liquid bridge
or the
liquid
the
permeable
film
in
vertical
fracture
totally
can
pressureprovide
a
good
transmissibility channel between the
matrix blocks. Certainly,there
is
not
any
difference
significant
initial
potential
between
the
profiles of matrix biOckS
in the
called capillary discontinuity

-----./--------------------------------------:1X
1----------

-7<.... -------................................-

Jt

!l,/,

,,

,,,

.
,,,

.
,, ,

.,,

.,

,
Zd

CQllltbrlm
W.m
MI% 994

t*l.le.4

la#.la.4

---

.1

, ,

tal. tie.+

--

be reevaluated at every time step.

However the form of Eq.21 permits
direct use of the Thomas algorithm.
The FORTRAN program applicable over
a

.,-e.m-%.kl
.Ga.u..cau.=

,.

..,<Aa
..UG

-----. Cu..j =

--

conditions encountered
in gravi;~
drainage simulation can be used to
determine
the
oil
distribution
profile.
The
computational
results

dimensionless form obtained from t%

above program is shown in Fig.3 in
which the time value td=0.2, and
capillary number Ncg=O.03 are used.
The relaxation parameters are r=le4,5e-4 and 10e-4, respectively. The
solution profile is characterized by
a relaxation process. The case T=O
is degenerate and corresponds to the
simple gravity drainage case which
do
not
take
account
of
non equilibrium effects.

Some Aspects
Mechenism

of

l.GravitylCapillary

Reimbibition

Potential

Much simulation work has presented

that
initial
gravity-capillary
potential
profile
of
matrix
discontinuity in hydrostatic state

case and that in the capillary

continuity!
The
potential
case.
energy at the top of any fracture
always is greater than that at the
bottom,then fluid flow across the
fracture
occurs
only
by
this
potential
difference.
On
other
hand, in
connective
closed
porous/frac&re
system or practical
oil reservoirs,there always exists
some overburden pressure which also
does not permit the existence of any
gravity potential discontinuity. But
the capillary pressure discontinuity
associated
with
end
effects
is
possible. In oil-wetting case,the

(ii) a permeable rock bridge with

the permeability value ~ and its
average contact width bP.
Let & be the matrix permeability ,&
be the permeability
of a pure
fracture with width b~ ,as showed in
Fig.5. Using width as the weight
parameter,we
can give an average
permeability kf,w,of this fractured
system:

initial cfravity-capillary potential

profile is a smooth line because
capillary continuity is established
Even in no-oilfor oil phase.
wetting case,gravity profile is a
capillary
smooth
The
1ine.
discontinuity can only influence the
fractures(see
Fig.4
parts
near
(a)) .

~~dver=b-l[K~b~+K#P+~#fl(28)
2.Contact
Area

property

and Contact
fractured
For
practical
reservoirs,it generally is true that
I$>=&.
& >> %, Ki->O and Kic~;
average
conditions ,the
In
these
width b~ of a pure fracture can take
as the
same order of magnitude
average width bi of impermeable rock
obtain
the
then
we
bridge,and
following result:

simulation researches indicate

that
key
of
effects
on
the
reimbibition is the with-contact or
the without-contact, and that there
is dramatically higher recovery for
the with-contact case than for the
without contact case. The presented
simulation conclusions are seemly
lacking in support of fundamental
laboratory studies. Though only a
few experimental
researches
have
touched with the physical mechanism
of gravity drainage
in fractured
reservoirs,it is enough to improve
our understanding of reimbibition.
Firoozabadi
et.al.s
experiments
rate
of
demonstrate
that
the
drainage across a stack of matrix
blocks is governed by the fracture
liquid
transmissibility
which
is
very
sensitive
to
the
fracture
aperture.
They have indicated that
transmissibility
may
not
be
sensitive to the number of contact
points or the contact area. Catalan
and Dulliens experiments also shows
that permeable
contacts and even
closed
contacts
not
ensure
can
canillarv
.-.=-.4 continuity . It implies
that contact and contact area are
not
a main governed
factor
in
reimbibition. In fact,there always
exist some contacts between matrix
blocks.
AS
many
researchers
recognize that matrix blocks can not
just remain suspended in the fluids
existing in the fractures and that a
certain degree of continuity must
exist across the fractures,at least
mechanically.
In order to study this mechanical
continuity,let us consider a stack
of matrix blocks as showed in Fig.5.
Without
of
generality,we
loss
suppose that the stack includes two
types of mechanical medium between
two matrix blocks:
(i) an impermeable rock bridge with
the permeability value 1$ (near zero
value) and its average contact width
bi,
some

(29)

The above simple equation shows that

the conception of fracture system
permeability in double porosity and
permeability
theoryll generally
is
Hence tin
naturally
correct .
fractured media,the contact area of
an impermeable or permeable
rock
bridge between two matrix blocks can
the
influence
not
strongly
transmissibility
of the fracture
system.

3.Nettability
...
The capll~ary
continuity
or the
capillary discontinuity has a far
more narrowly
specified
physical
discontinuity
meaning.
Capillary
pressure
means
that
capillary
sections
of
disappears
at
some
medium. Conversely, permeable matrix
contacts do not ensure complete
capillary
continuity
since
in a
matrix
blocks
the
stack
of
of
establishment
capillary
continuity strongly is governed by
capillary
end
effect
in matrix
blocks . In heterogeneous media,the
capillary pressure curves depend on
the permeability,the wetting phase
is concentrated in a less permeable
zone and nonwetting phase in a more
permeable zone! when EWQ phases flow
crosses the boundary as showed in
Fig.1.
In Catalan and Dulliens presented
connate
brine
experiments ,the
363

saturations after gravity drainage

were very close in their Exp.3 and
Exp.4. But in Exp.3,the faces of the
core
plugs
were
polished
and
in Exp.4,a
contacted directly;and
layer
of
mixed-wet
paste
was
inserted between the two plugs. It
shows that capillary continuity was
established
for
wetting
the
phase(water) .
In
Exp.3,the
gas
saturation was relatively high at
FIJ. }

Id

blocks,even
with
some
capillary continuity,can not give a
higher oil recovery than that in the
core.
continuity
It means
that
reimbibition
mechanism
not
can
provide same oil recovery efficiency
waterflooding
in
of
naturally
fractured
reservoirs
in
as
homogeneous
porous
media.
In a
mixed/wet paste experiment, Catalan
and Dullien9.found that though the
contact faces of the matrix blocks
were
polished
and
contacted
directlytafter 52 days of gravity
drainage,the waterflooding residual
oil recovered of a stack of matrix
C2 7s.
blocks was only- >0.La!AL
a~+ is VA.*.
for continuous
core) . Howeverjin
same case if a layer of mixed-wet
paste was inserted between the two
matrix blocks one can reproduce the
with
results
obtained
continuous
cores because the paste eliminated
capillary end effects. Suffridge and
Renners experiments show another
interesting fact that addition of
6895 Kpa net over-burden pressure to
fractured
the
core
appeared
to
Ilhealll fractures,and
resulting
~r=~~-age r~~e and recovery
were
essentially that of the continuous
core.
But
in
the
absence
of
overburden pressure the core stack
given lower recovery factor since a
significant capillary end effect in
each of matrix blocks exists.7
that,for
We consider
the
core
analysis of fractured reservoirs,if
the capillary end effect can be
eliminated or largely reduced using
continuity
some
agent, for
exampie,mixed-wet
semi-permeable
membranes,then called
reimbibition
phenomenon itself will have not any
n
..-Dw
.. .
Waterflooding recovery in practical
fractured reservoirs also shows that
the presence of natural fractures
which become potential avenues for
the water to bypass large volumes of
the oil contained in the matrix
total
failures
in
often
causes
conventional waterflooding. In some
fractured
reservoirs ,its
primary
recovery appears to be aided by the
presence of natural fractures which
act
as
important
drainage
channels,however, secondary recovery
operations are not effective because
frackwes
frequently act as channels
the
for
early
breakthrough
of
injected water. Our point of view is
that reimbibition phenomena can not
increase oil recovery in stack of
matrix
blocks,and
that
recovery
waterflooding
in
efficiency
of
naturally fractured reservoirs
is
matrix

LIumld lrlmmloslblllty

bloct!

IIII

.Decauge
the
fracture
capillary
continuity was not established for
no-wetting oil phase.
When the oil
flow is directed from
the less
permeable
matrix
into
a
more
permeable
f r a c tur
e
region,specially, in
the
limiting
case when the permeability of the
downstream
fracture
region
may
increase
infinitely(fracture
or
freedom space),the oil saturation
discontinuity
in nonwetting media
may appear on the boundaries. The
capillary pressure in the fracture
region may become a little or zero
vaiue,wnicn generally is called as
the
capillary
discontinuity.
In
fracture reservoirs,if the length of
matrix
is
comparable
with
the
characteristic
length
scale
of
capillary(see
Eq.10) ,
the
then
saturation
distribution
will
be
considerably
distorted
by
this
capillary discontinuity effect,and
nonequilibrium
effect can not be
neglected. 1

4.Recovery

Efficiency

As we have indicated,some simulation

works considered that reimbibition
or called block to block process
in fractured reservoirs can greatly
increase oil recovery efficiency. It
is
not
an
accepted
fact.
In
fact,gravity drainage in a stack of
364

lower
than
reservoirs.

that

in

homogeneous

SO= actual oil saturation

effective oil saturation
SO* = high oil saturation
s& = low oil saturation
Sfl= inner solution saturation
Soalt
= outer solution saturation
t = time
td = dimensionless time
At= time step
~= oil flow velocity
z= vertical distance
Az= space step
zd= dimensionless distance
s. .

Conclusions
1.
The new model of reimbibition
and singular perturbation analyses
are
presented.
Then
it becomes
oil
possible
to
determine
the
saturation profile in a stack of
matrix blocks.
2.
The numerical results in this
when
the
paper
confirms
that
the
characteristic
time
of
matrix
saturation
variation
in
L. -,-- is
WALU
tk
tiRE
D1OCJCS
~~iilj?~~~bk
-2L
required
to
establish
capillary
equilibrium
nonequilibrium
the
phenomena in gravity drainage must
be considered.
3.
Some important mechanisms in
reimbibition
processes
fully
is
revealed. The nettability, capillary
fracture
end
effect,and
liquid
transmissibility
govern flow in a
stack of matrix blocks.
4.
The more number of contact
points,contact
area or capillary
continuity
-.---_- can not give a higher Oil
recovery than that in the continuity

core.
It
is
not
true
that
reimbibition may be greatly increase
oil
recovery
efficiency
of
waterflooding in naturally fractured
reservoirs.

Nomenclature
coefficient of j-lth space item
b. total contact width
b~ contact width of Dure fracture
b~= contact width of i-~ermeable rock
bjo = coefficient of jth space item
b. = contact width of matrix block
bP = contact width of permeable rock
Cjo =coefficient of j+lth space item
dj= right item of difference scheme
fO= fractional flow for oil
g= acceleration of gravity
J= Leveretts capillary function
k= absolute permeability
kp permeability of pure fracture
average
permeability of system
%er=
,
-. J.[llpe?I1lleaLJAe
J..-&l
- --a:
UL
IllCUAa
ki= p2i31WFd3ilit-ypermeability of permeable media
~=
k.= oil relative permeability
li= length of i-th matrix block
lP= capillary length scale
~,~=
constant
NC~ = capillary number
~,~=
constant
PC= capillary pressure
P~= Pressure of gas phase
p.= pressure of oil phase
ajo=

a = nonlinear coefficient function

f3= nonlinear coefficient function
A%=
density difference of oil-gas
6= small parameter
~= influence degree of end effect
p~= gas viscosity
pO. oil viscosity
~ = inner variable
(a . oil density
~. gas density
o . interracial tension
~ = relaxation parameter
*O = oil potential
z~ . gas notential
= _ -.
@ = porosity

References
Simulation
of
1.
Saidi,A.M. :
Naturally Fractured Reservoirs,
SPE 12270 presented the 1983 SPE
Reservoir Simulation Symposium,San
Francisco,Nov. 16-18.
2. Van Golf-Rachat,T.D. :
Fundamental of Fractured Reservoir
Scientific
Engineering, Elsevier
Publishing Co. ,Amsterdam(1982).
3. Saidi.A.M. :

Reservoir Engineering of Fractured

Resenoirs,Total, Paris (1988) .
4. Larry S.K. Fung:Simulation of
Processes
in
Block-to-Block
Fractured
Reservoirs,,
Naturally
SPE RE Nov.1991 477-84.
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in Fractured
Porous Media, SPE 24919 presented
Technical
1992
SPE
Annual
the
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Connectivity
Capillary
Across
Fractures
on
Gravity
Horizontal
From
Fractured
Porous
Drainage
Media, t SPE 24920 presented the
1992 SPE Annual Technical Conference
& Exhibition,Washington
DC,October
4-7.

Suffridge, F.E. ,Renner, T.A. :

llDiff~~i~n and
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Gravity
Tests to support the Development of
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Silva
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F.V.da
8.
Formulation
fOr
B.Meyer: Improved
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Gravity
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Applications of Mixed-Wet Pastes in
Gravity Drainage Experiments,
JCPT, May 1992.28-30.
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and
gas
t
The
influence
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oil
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water distribution,
(in Russian), NeftepromyslovOye Delo,
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Ryzhik,V.M. :
Theory of Fluid Flows Trough Natural
7.

Rocks,
Kluwer Academic Publishers,1990.
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Gravity Drainage,
Soc.Pet.Eng.J.
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366