Flow visualization studies of two phase flow through layered porous media

Water flooding is the most widely used process for for extracting oil from reservoirs. Since oil reservoirs are heterogeneous in nature, it is of utmost importance to understand the physics associated with the flow of fluids in these reservoirs to better predict production performance. This paper focuses on the effect of reservoir heterogeneities on the waterflood (immiscible displacement) process. Experiments are performed using two-dimensional flow model packed with sand particles of different size to form layers of different permeability. This experimental study demonstrates the significant effect of heterogeneity on flow pattern. It is observed that during waterflooding, high permeability regions are bypassed due to capillary pressure difference. This serves to understand the flow physics in stratified reservoir and can assist in understanding waterflood performance of actual reservoirs