Two-phase flow in porous media: power-law scaling of effective permeability

A recent experiment has reported power-law scaling of effective permeability of two-phase flow with respect to capillary number for a two-dimensional model porous medium. In this paper, we consider the simultaneous flow of two phases through a porous medium under steady-state conditions, fixed total flow-rate and saturation, using a two-dimensional network simulator. We obtain power-law exponents for the scaling of effective permeability with respect to capillary number. The simulations are performed both for viscosity matched fluids and for a high viscosity ratio resembling that of air and water. Good power-law behaviour is found for both cases. Different exponents are found, depending on saturation.