Phys Rev E. 2018 Feb;97(2):023312. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.97.023312.

Lattice Boltzmann model for three-phase viscoelastic fluid flow.

Physical review. E

Chiyu Xie, Wenhai Lei, Moran Wang

PMID: 29548162 DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.97.023312

Abstract

A lattice Boltzmann (LB) framework is developed for simulation of three-phase viscoelastic fluid flows in complex geometries. This model is based on a Rothman-Keller type model for immiscible multiphase flows which ensures mass conservation of each component in porous media even for a high density ratio. To account for the viscoelastic effects, the Maxwell constitutive relation is correctly introduced into the momentum equation, which leads to a modified lattice Boltzmann evolution equation for Maxwell fluids by removing the normal but excess viscous term. Our simulation tests indicate that this excess viscous term may induce significant errors. After three benchmark cases, the displacement processes of oil by dispersed polymer are studied as a typical example of three-phase viscoelastic fluid flow. The results show that increasing either the polymer intrinsic viscosity or the elastic modulus will enhance the oil recovery.

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• Journal Article