Scaling of Recovery by Cocurrent Spontaneous Imbibition in Fractured Petroleum Reservoirs

Cocurrent spontaneous imbibition (COCSI) of an aqueous phase into matrix blocks arising from capillary forces is an important mechanism for petroleum recovery from fractured petroleum reservoirs. In this work, the analytical solution to the COCSI is used to develop the appropriate scaling equations. In particular, the backflow production of the nonwetting phase at the inlet face is considered. The resulting scaling equations incorporate all factors that influence the process and are found in terms of the Darcy number (Da) and capillary number, (Ca). The proposed scaling equations are validated against the published experimental data from the literature.