Modeling of flow of oil-in-water emulsions through porous media

Abstract

Formation and flow of emulsions in porous media are common in all enhanced oil recovery techniques. In most cases, oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions are formed in porous media due to oil–water interaction. Even now, detailed flow mechanisms of emulsions through porous media are not well understood. In this study, variation of rate of flow of O/W emulsions with pressure drop was studied experimentally, and rheological parameters were calculated. The pressure drop increases with an increase in oil concentration in the O/W emulsion due to high viscosity. The effective viscosity of the emulsion was calculated from the derived model and expressed as a function of shear rate while flowing through porous media. Flow of O/W emulsions of different concentrations was evaluated in sand packs of different sand sizes. Emulsions were characterized by analyzing their stability, rheological properties, and temperature effects on rheological properties.