Immiscible displacements of two-phase non-Newtonian fluids in porous media

The injected and the displaced fluid are respectively considered as Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids. Owing to the introduction of the deviation parameter of deviating Newtonian fluid of the displaced fluid, a new flow rate equation of two-phase immiscible displacements is obtained. Viscous fingering (VF) is investigated by means of the successive over-relaxation technique. The sweep efficiency of the displacing fluid decreases along with the increase of the deviation parameter. The computer simulations show a definite crossover from initial diffusion-limited-aggregation-like (DLA-like) fractal growth to compact growth. Between the site number invaded by the displacing fluid and the deviation parameter, a nontrivial scaling relation is exhibited. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.