Renormalization approach for the simulation of two-phase flow in porous media

A new method for simulating two-phase flow in porous media using hierarchical lattices is presented. These type of lattices allowed us to perform simulations of very large systems at a very low computational cost. It is shown how flow properties agree with those found using conventional simulations with and without capillary pressure. The interplay between heterogeneity effects and capillary forces is analyzed. It is shown that capillary pressure reduces the irruption time for the case of homogeneous systems while producing the opposite effect when disorder is present. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.