SIMULATION AND TRANSPORT PHENOMENA OF A TERNARY 2-PHASE FLOW

A chemical flood model for a three-component (petroleum, water, inject ed chemical) two-phase (aqueous, oleic) system is presented. It is rul ed by a system of nonlinear partial differential equations: the contin uity equation for the transport of each of its components and Darcy's equation for the two-phase flow. The transport mechanisms considered a re ultralow interfacial tension, capillary pressure, dispersion, adsor ption, and partition of the components between the fluid phases (inclu ding solubilization and swelling). The mathematical model is numerical ly solved in the one-dimensional case by finite differences using an e xplicit and direct iterative procedure for the discretization of the c onservation equations. Numerical results are compared with Yortsos and Fokas' exact solution for the linear waterflood case including capill ary pressure effects and with Larson's model for surfactant flooding. The effects of the above-mentioned transport mechanisms on concentrati on profiles and on oil recovery are also analyzed.