Abstract Multiphase flow in porous media is found in a variety of engineering problems, including in technologies focused on satisfying the energy needs of an expanding global population while minimizing the effects of human activity on climate change. The objective of this study is to provide a better understanding of the importance and interdependence of the wettability-altered fraction, the degree of wettability alteration, and the spatially-varying contact angle assignment in influencing the pore-scale and macroscale flow properties. In order to conduct this investigation and analyze the effects on the relative permeability curves and fluid configurations, the Shan-Chen multi-relaxation-time multicomponent lattice Boltzmann model with explicit forcing is utilized, and domains of increasing fractions of wettability-altered pores are generated. We find that the fraction altered, the degree of alteration, and the accurate contact angle assignment are all correlated, and play a role to varying extents in influencing the flow behavior and the resulting relative permeability curves. The fraction altered displays the strongest effect, and the effects of the degree of alteration and contact angle assignment become more significant when a larger fraction of the sample has undergone wettability alteration. A sample that has undergone fractional wettability alteration results in a larger resistance to the overall flow and more tortuous flow paths, at intermediate saturations, in comparison to a strongly water/oil wetting domain. In a high porosity domain that is becoming increasingly oil-wet, the degree of wettability alteration has a more pronounced effect on the flow behavior of the oil phase, whereas the flow of the water phase remains dictated by the large pore spaces and the regions of the domain that have not undergone wettability alteration until a significant fraction of the domain has been altered. Moreover, a spatially-varying contact angle assignment becomes more important for a system with a large distribution of contact angles. The results demonstrate the correlations between wettability alteration and pore geometry and highlight the need for an algorithm that captures the true time-dependent wettability state of a porous medium sample.

中文翻译：

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使用格子玻尔兹曼方法对多孔介质中孔隙尺度多相流动的润湿性改变的影响

摘要 多孔介质中的多相流存在于各种工程问题中，包括专注于满足不断增长的全球人口的能源需求，同时最大限度地减少人类活动对气候变化影响的技术。本研究的目的是更好地了解润湿性改变部分、润湿性改变程度和空间变化接触角分配在影响孔隙尺度和宏观流动特性方面的重要性和相互依赖性。为了进行这项调查并分析对相对渗透率曲线和流体配置的影响，利用具有显式强迫的山陈多松弛时间多分量格子玻尔兹曼模型，并生成了润湿性改变孔隙比例增加的域. 我们发现改变的分数、改变的程度和准确的接触角分配都是相关的，并在不同程度上影响流动行为和由此产生的相对渗透率曲线。改变的部分显示出最强的影响，当较大部分的样品发生润湿性改变时，改变程度和接触角分配的影响变得更加显着。与强水/油润湿域相比，在中等饱和度下，经历了部分润湿性改变的样品会导致更大的整体流动阻力和更曲折的流动路径。在变得越来越油湿的高孔隙率域中，润湿性改变的程度对油相的流动行为有更显着的影响，而水相的流动仍然由大孔隙空间和未经历润湿性改变的域区域决定，直到域的很大一部分发生改变。此外，空间变化的接触角分配对于具有大接触角分布的系统变得更加重要。结果证明了润湿性改变与孔隙几何形状之间的相关性，并强调需要一种算法来捕获多孔介质样品的真实时间相关润湿性状态。对于具有大接触角分布的系统，空间变化的接触角分配变得更加重要。结果证明了润湿性改变与孔隙几何形状之间的相关性，并强调需要一种算法来捕获多孔介质样品的真实时间相关润湿性状态。对于具有大接触角分布的系统，空间变化的接触角分配变得更加重要。结果证明了润湿性改变与孔隙几何形状之间的相关性，并强调需要一种算法来捕获多孔介质样品的真实时间相关润湿性状态。