Fractional Flow and Saturation — Lesson 2

This lesson covers the concept of flow through porous media, focusing on immiscible flow and the Buckley-Leverett formulation. It explains how the porous medium is at interstitial saturation and how the wetting phase is injected into it. The lesson also discusses how saturation changes, how the wetting and non-wetting phases are collected, and the rate at which they come out as the effluent. It further delves into the model of channel mode, capillary pressure, surface tension, contact angle, and other rock properties that affect relative permeability. The lesson concludes with an explanation of how to calculate the rate at which each saturation packet is traveling.

Video Highlights

01:59 - Understanding the concept of interstitial wetting phase saturation
06:05 - Explanation of how saturation changes over time
16:42 - Understanding the concept of saturation packets
22:28 - Explanation of how each saturation packet travels at a different rate

Key Takeaways

- The Buckley-Leverett formulation is used to study how saturation changes in a porous medium.
- The wetting phase is injected into the porous medium at interstitial saturation.
- The rate at which each saturation packet travels is directly proportional to the change in the fractional flow function with respect to saturation.
- The saturation in the porous medium can vary between the irreducible water saturation and the non-wetting residual saturation.
- The concept of fractional flow function is crucial in understanding the flow through porous media.