Abstract
We propose a new capillary number for flow in fractures starting with a force balance on a trapped ganglion in a fracture. The new definition is validated with laboratory experiments using five distinctive model fractures. Capillary desaturation curves were generated experimentally using water-air forced imbibition. The residual saturation-capillary number relationship obtained from different fractures, which vary in aperture and roughness, can be represented approximately by a single curve in terms of the new definition of the capillary number. They do not fit a single trend using the conventional definition of the capillary number.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 5368-5373 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Volume | 44 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 16 Jun 2017 |
Keywords
- capillary number
- desaturation curve
- flow in fracture
- trapping in fracture