Two-phase flow of Bingham fluids through porous media (Q1263386)

Previous studies on the flow of non-Newtonian fluids through porous media were restricted mostly to single phase flow. Recently with the development of mechanics of flow through porous media and the strong requirement of the oil industry, two phase flow of non-Newtonian fluids through porous media has been a subject of extensive study in recent years, such as: two phase one-dimensional flow of power-law fluids and Bingham fluids (initial pressure gradient is only constant). This paper presents an extension of the type of research. On the condition that initial pressure gradient is an arbitrary function of the coordinate in space, two phase, one-dimensional flows of Bingham fluids in porous media is studied; and a technique has been developed to obtain the analytical solutions of saturation in such complex case. The results show that a fractional flow depends on not only the saturation but also the injection velocity and the coordinate in space. The behavior of non-Newtonian has strong effects on fluids distribution in porous media or sweep efficiency and oil recovery, which can be characterized by the parameter \(R_ 0\). This work has extensive significance, and can provide a theoretical basis for two phase flow of Bingham fluids and recovery of visco-plastic oil.