Multiphase relative permeability is a key parameter in reservoir simulation.Typically,end-point basedcorrelations are employed in order to obtain such curves for reservoir simulation purposes.However,thosecorrelations are not capable of capturing micro-scale physical phenomenon which can significantly affectflow pattern at larger scales.Consequently,it is necessary to obtain a scale-up methodology in order totransfer the micro-scale physics to reservoir-scale.The objective of this research is developing a scale upprocedure which can be applied to multi-phase flow properties obtained by micro-scale flow simulation tocompute the equivalent macro-scale and core-scale flow properties having the micro-scale flow properties.Two different sets of media are employed:media representing unconsolidated oil sands and media based onexperimental data obtained from the Mesaverde formation located in the Poweder River Basin.The formeris used for validating the scale up methodology since not all the required information is available in theexperimental data set.Pore scale network modelling is used for calculating micro-scale multi-phase flowproperties such as porosity,and absolute and relative permeability.Then the generated subsegments arepopulated in space to reconstruct the macro scale medium.Flow properties of such medium are then obtainedby network modelling and the proposed scale-up methodology and the results are compared.Furthermore,macro-scale media are distributed in space in layers and stacks of increasing and decreasing permeability toform a core-level medium.Single and multi-phase flow properties are then calculated by applying a pressuredrop across the core.Permeability and relative permeability curves are calculated using the combinationof mass balance,equation of state,and Darcy equation assuming steady-state flow while capillary pressurecurve is obtained using the modified Leverett-J function procedure used in micro-to-macro scale up section.Results show good agreement between the expected and calculated properties for both unconsolidated andconsolidated media.Finally,physical behavior observed at micro and macro scale is transferred to the corescale.
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