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Download by: [Memorial University of Newfoundland] Date: 05 June 2016, At: 17:20
Petroleum Science and Technology, 26:17961810, 2008
Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 1091-6466 print/1532-2459 online
DOI: 10.1080/10916460701426049
1796
Adomian Decomposition of Buckley-Leverett Equation 1797
INTRODUCTION
GOVERNING EQUATIONS
This equation indicates that the fractional flow rate of water depends on
reservoir characteristics, water injection rate, viscosity, and direction of flow.
The effect of capillary pressure, Pc , which appears in the fractional flow
equation, on saturation profiles is important, since these profiles affect the
ultimate economic oil recovery (Bentsen, 1978). The ratio of effective per-
meability to viscosity is defined as the mobility, which is shown for water
and oil, respectively.
kkr w kkr o
w D and o D : (3)
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w o
o kr ow
M D D : (4)
w kr w o
The expression of the fractional flow rate of water in Eq. (2) suggests
that Eq. (1) is a nonlinear differential equation, and it is due to the effect of
capillary pressure. In the simplest case of horizontal flow and neglecting the
effects of capillary pressure variation along the reservoir, the expression for
fw in Eq. (2) is simplified to a linear differential equation, which is given by
1
fw D : (5)
1CM
relationships, respectively.
n1
kr w D 1 Swn ; (6.1)
as
1
X
Sw .x; t/ D Swn : (11)
nD0
1
X 1
X
Swn D f .x; t/ C An ; (12)
nD0 nD0
where f .x; t/ is a given function and An .Sw0 ; Sw1 ; Sw2 ; : : : : ; Swn / or sim-
ply An s are called Adomian polynomials. The Adomian polynomials are
expressed as
" 1
!#
1 dn X
i
An D N Swn .x; t/i (13)
n dn i D0 D0
Sw1 .x; t/ D A0 ;
::: (14)
Swk .x; t/ D Ak 1
::::
By this arrangement, the linear and nonlinear part of the functional Eq. (12)
is replaced by a known function using the recursive Eq. (14). By integrating
Eq. (10) with respect to t
1802 S. Mustafiz et al.
2 0 1 3
t 6 q @ B 1 C @Sw 7
Z
Sw D Sw .x; 0/ 6 B C 7 dt
0
4 A @Sw @ kr ow A @x 5
1C
kr w o
2 0 1
t 2
6 kkr o @ B 1 C @Pc @Sw
Z
6 B C
0
4 o @Sw @ kr ow A @Sw @x
1C
kr w o
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0 1
2
k B 1 C @kr o @Pc @Sw
C B C
o @ kr o w A @Sw @Sw @x
1C
kr w o
0 1 3
2
C @2 Pc
kkr o B 1 @Sw 7
7 dt:
C B C (15)
o @ kr ow A @Sw2 @x 5
1C
kr w o
Comparing Eq. (15) with Eq. (12), and taking into account Eq. (14), the
elements of the water saturation series are obtained:
2 0 1 3
t 6 q @ B 1 C @Sw0 7
Z
Sw0 .x; t/ D Sw .0; x/ 6 B C 7 dt
0
4 A @Sw0 @ kr o w A @x 5
1C
kr w o
2 0 1
t 6 kkr o @ B 1 C @Pc
Z
Sw1 .x; t/ D 6 B C
0
4 o @Sw0 @ kr ow A @Sw0
1C
kr w o
0 1
k B 1 C @kr o @Pc
C B C
o @ kr ow A @Sw0 @Sw0
1C
kr w o
0 1 3
C @2 Pc 7 @Sw0 2
kkr o B 1
C B C
2 5
7 dt
o @ kr o w A @Sw0 @x
1C
kr w o
Adomian Decomposition of Buckley-Leverett Equation 1803
2 0 1
t
d 6 kkr o @ 1 @Pc
Z
B C
Sw2 .x; t/ D 6 B C
d 0
4 o @.Sw0 C Sw1 / @ kr o w @.Sw0 C Sw1 /
A
1C
kr w o
0 1
k B 1 C @kr o @Pc
C B C
o @kr ow @.Sw0 C Sw1 / @.Sw0 C Sw1 /
A
1C
kr w o
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0 1 3
@2 Pc 7 @.Sw0 C Sw1 / 2
kkr o B 1 C
C B C 7 dt
o @ kr o w A @.Sw0 C Sw1 /2 5 @x
1C
kr w o
2 0 1
t6
1 d2
Z
6 kkr o @ 1
B C
Sw3 .x; t/ D 2
B C
2 d 0 4 o @.Sw0 C Sw1 C Sw2 / @ k
ro w
A
1C
kr w o
@Pc
@.Sw0 C Sw1 C Sw2 /
0 1
k B 1 C @kr o @Pc
C B C
o @ kr o w A @.Sw0 C Sw1 C Sw2 / @.Sw0 C Sw1 C Sw2 /
1C
kr w o
0 1 3
kkr o B 1 C @2 Pc 7
C B C 7
o @ kr o w @.Sw0 C Sw1 C Sw2 / 5
A 2
1C
kr w o
2
@.Sw0 C Sw1 C 2 Sw2 /
dt
@x
The method is applied to a given reservoir with the initial water saturation
of 0.18. This value is corresponding to the irreducible water saturation of
the reservoir. Water is injected into the reservoir with a linear flow rate of
1 ft/day. The oil and water viscosities are 1.73 cp and 0.52 cp, respectively.
1804 S. Mustafiz et al.
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Figure 1. The variation of the water and oil relative permeability, the fractional water
flow rate, and the differentiation of fractional water flow rate with the water saturation.
The flow of the displaced phase (oil) ceases at Soc = 0.1. The porosity of the
medium is 0.25, with an absolute permeability of k = 10 md.
The normalized water saturation and the water and oil relative perme-
ability are obtained using
Sw 0:18 4
Swn D ; kr w D 0:59439Swn ; kr o D .1 Swn /2 : (17)
1 0:1 0:18
A typical plot of variation of relative permeability to water, kr w , rel-
ative permeability to oil, kr o, fractional flow curve, fw , and its derivative,
dfw =dSw , are shown in Figure 1. The capillary pressure data are also known
and are shown in Table 1.
The solution for the first base element of the series solution of the water
saturation, Sw0 , is obtained through the solution of the first equation in Eq.
(16). It can be written, by integrating from both sides of the first equation in
Eq. (16) and using Eq. (4), that
@Sw0 q @ 1 @Sw0
C D 0: (18)
@t A @Sw0 1 C M @x
This equation suggests that Sw0 is constant along a direction that is called
characteristic direction. The characteristic direction can be obtained by
dx q @ 1
D ; (19)
dt Sw0 A @Sw0 1CM t
qt @ 1
x.t; Sw0 / D : (20)
A @Sw0 1 C M t
The solution of Eq. (20) gives the variation of the Sw0 along the reservoir at
certain time. The distribution of Sw0 along the reservoir is obtained based on
the definition of the mobility ratio in Eq. (4) and the relations for the relative
permeability of water and oil in Eq. (17). It corresponds to the variation of
the water saturation when the effect of the capillary pressure is ignored. The
computations are carried out at different time of t D 0.5, 1, 2, 5, and 10 [days].
The solution for the water saturation without the capillary pressure effect
shows the unrealistic physical situation that Buckley-Leverett mentioned in
Figure 2. The water saturation distribution with and without the effect of capillary
pressure using ADM.
1806 S. Mustafiz et al.
capillary pressure and its derivatives are approximated by using the cubic
spline, as shown in Figure 3. The interpolating splines are preferred over
interpolating polynomials as they do not suffer from oscillations between the
knots and are smoother and more realistic than linear splines (Ertekin et al.,
2001). Such technique is also used to observe the effects of linearization in
pressure in reservoir flow equations (Mustafiz et al., 2006). The solutions
for Sw2 and Sw3 are obtained recursively using Eq. (16). The computations
show that the series solution converges very fast and it is not necessary to go
further than Sw3 .
The distribution of the water saturation along the reservoir is given in
Figure 2. The results of the water saturation without the effect of the capillary
pressure are also depicted in Figure 2 for the sake of comparison. This figure
Figure 3. The capillary pressure variation and its first and second derivatives as a
function of the water saturation.
Adomian Decomposition of Buckley-Leverett Equation 1807
CONCLUSIONS
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To unravel the lure of finding a justifiable answer to the shock front, which
is often less severe in the experiments than in the theoretical postulations, the
Adomian decomposition method is investigated to solve the Buckley-Leverett
equation. The solution by the ADM also assures that the nonlinear dependence
of capillary pressure on saturation is maintained. The term, Sw0 .x; t/; is
prepared through the method of characteristics, which subsequently becomes
useful for the purpose of evaluation of the other elements in the water
saturation series. The saturation at a point and at a given time is evaluated
through recursion. The term Sw1 .x; t/ is calculated using the solution of
Sw0 .x; t/ at any distance and time. The solutions for Sw2 .x; t/ and Sw3 .x; t/
are obtained using the results of Sw1 .x; t/ and Sw2 .x; t/; respectively. The
computation is done up to the term Sw3 .x; t/; as it is found that the series
solution converges very quickly.
The most significant observation is that, by considering the effects of
capillary pressure, it is possible to avoid unrealistic multiple saturation values.
Moreover, the saturation profiles along the length are noted with gradual and
mild changes as predicted by the decomposition approach. Perhaps the slope
is less severe than predicted by the conventional finite difference approach;
a study remains for the future.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors gratefully acknowledge the research grant received through the
Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF), Canada. Mustafiz would also like to thank
the Killam Foundation for its financial support.
REFERENCES
NOMENCLATURE
o density of oil
w density of water
' porosity