Application of the Method of Matched Asymptotic Expansions to Solve a Nonlinear Pseudo-Parabolic Equation: The Saturation Convection-Dispersion Equation

In this work, we apply the method of matched asymptotic expansions to solve the one-dimensional saturation convection-dispersion equation, a nonlinear pseudo-parabolic partial differential equation. This equation is one of the governing equations for two-phase flow in a porous media when including capillary pressure effects, for the specific initial and boundary conditions arising when injecting water in an infinite radial piecewise homogeneous horizontal medium containing oil and water. The method of matched asymptotic expansions combines inner and outer expansions to construct the global solution. In here, the outer expansion corresponds to the solution of the nonlinear first-order hyperbolic equation obtained when the dispersion effects driven by capillary pressure became negligible. This equation has a monotonic flux function with an inflection point, and its weak solution can be found by applying the method of characteristics. The inner expansion corresponds to the shock layer, which is modeled as a traveling wave obtained by a stretching transformation of the partial differential equation. In the transformed domain, the traveling wave solution is solved using regular perturbation theory. By combining the solution for saturation with the so-called Thompson-Reynolds steady-state theory for obtaining the pressure, one can obtain an approximate analytical solution for the wellbore pressure, which can be used as the forward solution which analyzes pressure data by pressure-transient analysis