Functional Relationships between Scaling Groups and Oil Recovery in Miscible Displacements

The displacement of one fluid by another is the basis of many processes, such that in the remediation of contaminated aquifers and in Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) processes. These processes are modeled first in the laboratory before they are tried in the field. When the laboratory results are presented in scaled format, it is then possible to use the results of this system (lab scale) to predict the behavior of another similar system, the one of actual interest, the prototype. In this study, a rigorous procedure of inspectional analysis was used to determine the independent dimensionless scaling groups that describe miscible displacements of oil by a solvent. A two-dimensional, heterogeneous, anisotropic vertical cross section with constant porosity and dip angle was assumed. Results show that scaling miscible displacements requires the matching of thirteen dimensionless scaling groups. Fine-mesh numerical simulation was then performed to develop the functional relationships between these scaling groups and the fractional oil recovery obtained from such displacement. This relationship can be used as a quick prediction tool for the fractional oil recovery for any combinations of the scaling groups, thus eliminating the need for the expensive simulations.