A Model of Local Distribution of Saturation in a Fractured Layer, and Its Application

Abstract

This paper describes a model of local distribution of liquid water (or steam) saturation in a fractured layer. The model, based on the Bernoulli trials as a probability density function of saturation, gives the following relation between the average value of the relative permeability for the water phase, k-, and the arithmetical mean of saturation, S,: where rn is an index representing the non-uniformity of saturation (lsms4). When m=4, the saturation is distributed uniformly. The proposed model also gives the average value for the relative permeability of the steam phase, krga, as follows: These relations are applied to analysis of some experimental data already reported by the authors. Also, this presentation shows the validity of the Bernoulli trials as a density probability function of saturation in comparison with other kinds of such functions: the normal distribution, the triangle distribution and the beta distribution.