Lattice Boltzmann implementation for Fluids Flow Simulation in Porous Media

Abstract

In this paper, the lattice-Boltzmann method is developed to investigate the behavior of isothermal two-phase fluid flow in porous media. The method is based on the Shan–Chen multiphase model of nonideal fluids that allow coexistence of two phases of a single substance. We reproduce some different idealized situations (phase separation, surface tension, contact angle, pipe flow, and fluid droplet motion, et al) in which the results are already known from theory or laboratory measurements and show the validity of the implementation for the physical two-phase flow in porous media. Application of the method to fluid intrusion in porous media is discussed and shows the effect of wettability on the fluid flow. The capability of reproducing critical flooding phenomena under strong wettability conditions is also proved.