Comparison of Pore-Scale

and Darcy-Scale Simulation

of Acid Injection in
Carbonate Formations
B. Hosseinzadeh* (University of Tehran), Dr. Bazargan (Sharif
University of Technology)

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 Outline

Mass Darcy vs.

Dispersion
Introduction Motivation Objective Transfer Darcy- Conclusions
Coefficient
Coefficient Brinkman

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Introduction

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Continuum Model
Core Scale

Pore Scale

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 Two-Scale Model Approach

𝑼, 𝑪𝒇

𝒙 𝒙 + 𝒅𝒙

1- Fluid flow in porous media

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𝐔=− 𝐊 . 𝛁𝑃 Darcy’s law
𝜇
𝜇
∆𝒖 − 𝛁𝑃 − 𝜇𝐊 −1 𝒖 = 𝟎 Darcy-Brinkman
𝜀
𝜕(𝜌𝑢) 𝜇
+ 𝛁. 𝜌𝒖𝒖 = −𝛁𝑃 + 𝛻. 𝜏 − 𝒖 Navier-Stokes
𝜕𝑡 𝐊
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 Two-Scale Model Approach
2- Continuity equation from mass balance of fluid
𝜕𝜀
+ 𝛁. 𝑼 = 0,
𝜕𝑡
3- Transport equation from fluid phase balance of reacting species
𝜕(𝜀𝐶𝑓 )
+ 𝛁. 𝐔𝐶𝑓 = 𝛁. 𝜀𝐃𝐞 . 𝛁𝐶𝑓 − 𝑘𝑐 𝑎𝑣 𝐶𝑓 − 𝐶𝑠 ,
𝜕𝑡
4- Balances the amount of acid transferred from the fluid phase to the surface to
react at the surface
𝑘𝑐 𝐶𝑓 − 𝐶𝑠 = 𝑅(𝐶𝑠 ), 𝑅 𝐶𝑠 = 𝑘𝑠 𝐶𝑠
5- Porosity evolution equation from balance between solid dissolved and fluid
consumed
𝜕𝜀 𝑅(𝐶𝑠 )𝑎𝑣 𝛼
= ,
𝜕𝑡 𝜌𝑠
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 Motivation
𝐾𝑟 = ?
𝐶𝑟 Bulk fluid 𝐶𝑝

C. Soulaine 2016
Control Volume
𝐾1 𝐾3
Mass Transfer 𝐶𝑖 𝐾𝑟 𝐶𝑝𝑖
Coefficient Reactants + CaCO3 <-> Products

Microscopic scale Macroscopic scale

𝐷𝑒 = ?

C. Soulaine 2016
Control Volume
A’
A
Fluid Phase B’

Dispersion B
C’
C
Microscopic scale Macroscopic scale

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 Motivation

Porosity in wormhole = 1 Permeability in wormhole =

more than 1 D

Darcy
Vs
Darcy-Brinkman
T. J. L. de Oliveira, 2012

Is Darcy
applicable in
wormholes???

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 Objective
• Investigate the accuracy of fluid phase dispersion
coefficient that has been used in Darcy-scale
modeling (Taylor-Aris equation - Taylor, G. I. 1953)
• Investigate the accuracy of mass transfer
coefficient that has been used in Darcy-scale
modeling (Balakotaiah equation - Balakotaiah V,
West DH. 2002)
• Compare the performance of simulations using
Darcy and Darcy-Brinkman equations in modeling
wormhole phenomena

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 Methodology
0.8 mm
Two-dimensional slice of
the porous medium. The
white region represents
the void space while the

0.8 mm
black region represents
the solid grains (porosity
= 0.59).

One Control Volume

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 Methodology
In the following sections:
1. To investigate the accuracy of the fluid phase
dispersion coefficient
𝐶𝑝,𝑖𝑛𝑙𝑒𝑡 = 𝐶𝑝,𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑙𝑒𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑛𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

2. In the next stage, we include the reaction. We

intend to focus on the acid mass transport

𝑛𝑜 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝑟𝑜𝑐𝑘

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 Fluid Phase Dispersion Coefficient
• In the absence of flow, dispersion of salute occurs only due to molecular
diffusion:

𝐷𝑒𝑋 = 𝐷𝑒𝑇 = 𝛼0𝑠 𝐷𝑚

Longitudinal Transverse Molecular
dispersion dispersion diffusion
• For having flow:
Depends on the 𝐷𝑒𝑋
structure of the 𝐷𝑥 = = 𝛼𝑜𝑠 + 𝜆𝑋 𝑃𝑒𝑝 numerical
porous medium 𝐷𝑚 coefficients
(for example, that depend on
tortuosity or 𝐷𝑒𝑇 the structure of
connectivity 𝐷𝑇 = = 𝛼𝑜𝑠 + 𝜆 𝑇 𝑃𝑒𝑝 the medium
between) 𝐷𝑚
Peclet number
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 Fluid Phase Dispersion Coefficient
1
Pore-Scale
Darcy-Scale
0.8
∆c/cint (mol/m 3)

0.6

0.4

0.2

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7

Pore Volume

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 Mass Transfer Coefficient
Transport of the acid species from the fluid phase to the fluid-solid interface
inside the pores :

Depend on the structure of

the porous medium (Diffusion) depends on the local
velocity (Convection)

0.5
2𝑘𝑐 𝑟𝑝 𝑑ℎ 1Τ2
𝑆ℎ = = 𝑆ℎ∞ + 0.35 𝑅𝑒𝑝 𝑆𝑐 1Τ3
𝐷𝑚 𝑥
asymptotic Reynolds Schmidt
Sherwood number number
number

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 Mass Transfer Coefficient
1
Pore-Scale
Darcy-Scale
0.8
∆c/cint (mol/m3)

0.6

0.4

0.2

0 0.5 1 1.5
Pore Volume

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 Darcy vs. Darcy-Brinkman
Before acidizing After acidizing

Porosity in wormhole = 1

we have considered two porous mediums for testing Darcy and Darcy-Brinkman
equations: a carbonate core before (figure on the left side) and after acid injection
(figure on the right side).

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 Darcy vs. Darcy-Brinkman
Darcy equation Darcy–Brinkman equation
After acidizing
Before acidizing

Pressure distribution

The pressure differential across the core is approximately equal, while pressure
differential predicted by Darcy and Darcy-Brinkman is very much different, when
having a wormhole inside the core.

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 Conclusion
• The numerical study presented in this paper, based on the use of Darcy
and Darcy-Brinkman equations in pore-scale and Darcy-scale, gives a
better understanding of the wormholing phenomenon.
• We have shown that the fluid phase dispersion coefficients used by
Panga et al., 2005 match pore-scale simulation results reasonably.
• However, the mass transfer coefficient is not properly predicted by the
semi-empirical model (Panga et al., 2005) when compared with pore-
scale simulation.
• The Darcy equation is found to be non-applicable when used to predict
the flow inside the wormholes created by acid injection into carbonate
formations. This has been shown for two cases with and without
wormholes. Thus, the Darcy equation used by researchers to determine
optimum conditions for acid injection is not accurate.

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Thank you for your kind attention

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