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ARTICLE
Imbibition Front and Phase Distribution in Shale Based on Lattice Boltzmann Method
1 State Key Laboratory for Geomechanics and Deep Underground Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China
2 Center for Digital Technology Research, Hubei Provincial Communications Planning and Design Institute Co, Ltd., Wuhan, 430051, China
3 Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China
4 College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210098, China
5 School of Engineering Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 101408, China
* Corresponding Author: Xiaobing Lu. Email:
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Computer Modeling of Fluid Seepage in Porous Media with Ultra-low Permeabilities)
Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2025, 142(2), 2173-2190. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2025.059045
Received 26 September 2024; Accepted 12 December 2024; Issue published 27 January 2025
Abstract
To study the development of imbibition such as the imbibition front and phase distribution in shale, the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) is used to study the imbibition processes in the pore-throat network of shale. Through dimensional analysis, four dimensionless parameters affecting the imbibition process were determined. A color gradient model of LBM was used in computation based on a real core pore size distribution. The numerical results show that the four factors have great effects on imbibition. The impact of each factor is not monotonous. The imbibition process is the comprehensive effect of all aspects. The imbibition front becomes more and more non-uniform with time in a heterogeneous pore-throat network. Some non-wetting phases (oil here) cannot be displaced out. The displacement efficiency and velocity do not change monotonously with any factor. The development of the average imbibition length with time is not smooth and not linear in a heterogeneous pore-throat network. Two fitting relations between the four dimensionless parameters and the imbibition velocity and efficiency are obtained, respectively.Keywords
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