The Sensitivity of Geothermal Reservoir Behavior to Relative Permeability Parameters

Abstract

In two-phase flow through a porous material, the movement of each individual phase is retarded by the presence of the other; the degree of interference depending, among other things, on the volumetric proportion of the two phases. This phenomenon is expressed mathematically by the saturation dependent relative permeability functions krl and krV, for the liquid and vapor phases respectively. Because the two phases move differentially (weighted by the relative permeability functions) the mixture behaves like a fluid with a saturation-dependent "effective" or total kinematic viscosity ut given by...