TY  - EJOU
AU  - Lu, Li 
AU  - Huang, Yadong 
AU  - Liu, Kuo 
AU  - Zhang, Xuhui 
AU  - Lu, Xiaobing 

TI  - Imbibition Front and Phase Distribution in Shale Based on Lattice Boltzmann Method
T2  - Computer Modeling in Engineering \& Sciences

PY  - 2025
VL  - 142
IS  - 2
SN  - 1526-1506

AB  - 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.
KW  - Imbibition; LBM; dimensional analysis; shale

DO  - 10.32604/cmes.2025.059045