The LBPM software package for simulating multiphase flow on digital images of porous rocks

Direct pore scale simulations of two-fluid flow on digital rock images provide a promising tool to understand the role of surface wetting phenomena on flow and transport in geologic reservoirs. We present computational protocols that mimic conventional special core analysis laboratory (SCAL) experiments, which are implemented within the open source LBPM software package. Protocols are described to simulate unsteady displacement, steady-state flow at fixed saturation, and to mimic centrifuge experiments. These methods can be used to infer relative permeability and capillary curves, and otherwise understand two-fluid flow behavior based on first principles. Morphological tools are applied to assess image resolution, establish initial conditions, and instantiate surface wetting maps based on the distribution of fluids. Internal analysis tools are described that measure essential aspects of two-fluid flow, including fluid connectivity and surface measures, which are used to track transient aspects of the flow behavior as they occur during simulation. Computationally efficient workflows are developed by combining these components with a two-fluid lattice Boltzmann model to define hybrid methods that can accelerate computations by using morphological tools to incrementally evolve the pore-scale fluid distribution. We show that the described methods can be applied to recover expected trends due to the surface wetting properties based on flow simulation in Benntheimer sandstone.

Automated summary

The direct pore scale simulations of two-fluid flow on digital rock images provide a valuable tool for understanding the impact of surface wetting phenomena on flow behavior in geological reservoirs. By mimicking conventional special core analysis laboratory experiments, computational protocols were developed to simulate displacement, steady-state flow, and centrifuge experiments, enabling the inference of relative permeability and capillary curves. Morphological tools and internal analysis tools were utilized to assess image resolution and track transient aspects of flow behavior during simulation.