Ata Kamyabi - School of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Sharif University of Technology
Ahmad Ramazani S.A. - School of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, Sharif University of Technology
Charles Dubois - Department of Chemical Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique University

The flow characteristics of power-law generalized Newtonian fluid types in porous pores in reservoir with the dead ends are simulated numerically to find effects of fluids and flow character on replacement ability of flooding fluid with trapped oil in the dead ends. The contours of velocity and stream function are drawn and micro-scale sweep efficiency is calculated qualitatively. The power law model has been used to describe the rheological properties of polymer solutions. This model considers viscosity shear dependent behavior of fluids which can dramatically affects flow behavior of polymer solutions in reservoirs. A finite-volume-based numerical approach has been used to solve the equations of motion for the steady, isothermal and incompressible power-law fluid past through a two-dimensional micropore. The streamline plots showing the nature offluid on flow dynamic are presented. The computed result over the range of the power-law index range of 0.1 ≤ n ≤ 2 (covering both shear-thinning and shearthickening behavior) are shown. Numerical results show the power law index of polymer solutions is the main factor influencing sweepefficiency. With increasing power law index, the flowing area in the dead end of pores becomes bigger. The sweep area and displacement efficiency increase as the power law index increases. The shear-thickening nature of the displacing polymer fluids in general can improve the displacement efficiency in pores compared to shear-thinning and Newtonian fluids. This conclusion could be employed in selecting polymer fluids and designing polymer flooding operations.

polymer flooding, dead end, numerical,generalized Newtonian, power-law