LIQUID-LIQUID RELATIVE PERMEABILITY: NETWORK MODELS AND EXPERIMENTS

Two different but related two-dimensional network models are used to elucidate the concept of relative permeability in simultaneous liquid-liquid flow in porous media. The first model is designed for monosized sphere packs while the other, consisting of spherical pore chambers interconnected by capillaries of variable length and radius, is intended for more general porous media. The effects of various operating conditions and physical factors—pressure gradient, wettability, surface tension, throat and pore size distributions, imbibition or drainage—on relative permeability are studied. Experimental data are also presented to confirm various aspects of the theory.