Micro-Scale Simulation of Evaporation, Condensation and Transport in Porous Media

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atmire.migration.oldid4963
dc.contributor.advisorKantzas, Apostolos
dc.contributor.advisorHejazi, Hossein
dc.contributor.authorEtemad, Sahand
dc.contributor.committeememberMaini, Brij
dc.contributor.committeememberDong, Mingzhe
dc.date.accessioned2016-09-26T20:19:29Z
dc.date.available2016-09-26T20:19:29Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.date.submitted2016en
dc.description.abstractSub-pore scale modeling of flow in porous media is gaining momentum. The concept of Digital Core Analysis deals with measurements of virtual core and the purpose of such modeling is to replace conventional and special core analysis when the latter are not feasible. One of the challenging concepts in micro-scale simulation of porous media is consideration of phase change phenomena. Mass and heat transfer equations have to be considered simultaneously to capture complexities involved in the evaporation and condensation processes. Therefore, a numerical scheme based on the Volume-of-Fluid method was implemented using the OpenFOAM open-source CFD package along with four phase change models. The aforementioned approach is extended in the modeling of phase change within a porous medium. Surface roughness is introduced by the incorporation of wedges of variable density and amplitude on the grain surface. A further introduced complication is that the individual grains are of different mineralogy and thus of different wettability. It is observed that steam condenses first in the smallest of wedges, which act as nucleation sites. A condensate film was generated around high roughness density areas and the amount of condensate being generated in the roughened medium was significantly larger than the generated condensate in smooth surface. Water spreads on water-wet surfaces. Snap-off is observed in several cases leading to temporary trapping of vapor. Grid size effects are also addressed. The application of this modeling effort is the condensation of steam in thermal recovery methods. The effect of temperature on bitumen viscosity reduction during steam flooding operation as well as steam condensation, trapping of the oil behind the steam front and finally countercurrent flow of steam and condensate-bitumen due to gravity effects.en_US
dc.identifier.citationEtemad, S. (2016). Micro-Scale Simulation of Evaporation, Condensation and Transport in Porous Media (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/26908en_US
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/26908
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11023/3325
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisher.facultyGraduate Studies
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.publisher.placeCalgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.
dc.subjectEngineering--Petroleum
dc.subject.classificationNucleationen_US
dc.subject.classificationMineralogyen_US
dc.subject.classificationSurface roughnessen_US
dc.subject.classificationCondensateen_US
dc.subject.classificationPhase changeen_US
dc.subject.classificationSAGDen_US
dc.subject.classificationTrappingen_US
dc.titleMicro-Scale Simulation of Evaporation, Condensation and Transport in Porous Media
dc.typemaster thesis
thesis.degree.disciplineChemical and Petroleum Engineering
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgary
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Science (MSc)
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrue
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