Dynamic Wettability Alteration in Immiscible Two-phase Flow in Porous Media: Effect on Transport Properties and Critical Slowing Down

The change in contact angles due to the injection of low salinity water or any other wettability altering agent in an oil-rich porous medium is modeled by a network of disordered pores transporting two immiscible fluids. We introduce a dynamic wettability altering mechanism, where the time dependent wetting property of each pore is determined by the cumulative flow of water through it. Simulations are performed to reach steady-state for different possible alterations in the wetting angle (θ). We find that deviation from oil-wet conditions re-mobilizes the stuck clusters and increases the oil fractional flow. However, the rate of increase in the fractional flow depends strongly on θ and as θ → 90°, a critical angle, the system shows critical slowing down which is characterized by two dynamic critical exponents