Verification and validation of a numerical method for modeling non-Newtonian immiscible fluid flows in digital core models
D.V. Guzei1, A.A. Gavrilov1,2, A.I. Pryazhnikov1, A.V. Minakov1
1Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
2Kutateladze Institute of Thermophysics SB RA, Novosibirsk, Russia
Keywords: digital core models, polymer flooding, VOF method, microfluidic chips, testing
Abstract
This paper presents the results of the verification and validation of a computational method for modeling two-phase immiscible flows of non-Newtonian fluids in porous media with interface resolution. The mathematical model is based on solving the Navier-Stokes equations within the framework of the well-known Volume of Fluid (VOF) method, accounting for interfacial tension forces and fluid rheology via a non-linear viscoplastic medium model based on the generalized viscosity approach. The developed method was tested on problems involving the displacement of model hydrocarbons by a xanthan gum biopolymer solution in a microfluidic chip simulating a porous medium and in a digital model of an actual core sample with a resolution of 200×200×200 voxels. The calculation results were compared with data from a microfluidic experiment and with calculations performed using the Ansys Fluent CFD code. The testing demonstrated that the numerical simulation results for polymer flooding obtained using the developed method show good qualitative and quantitative agreement with microfluidic experimental data and numerical solutions obtained using Ansys Fluent.
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