The flow and displacement in porous media of fluids with yield stress

We study the mobilization and subsequent flow in a porous medium of a fluid with a yield stress, modeled as a Bingham plastic. We use single-capillary expressions for the mobilization and flow in a pore-throat, and a pore-network model that accounts for distributed yield-stress thresholds. First, we extend the statistical physics method of invasion percolation with memory, which models lattice problems with thresholds, to incorporate dynamic effects due to the viscous friction following the onset of mobilization. Macroscopic relations between the applied pressure gradient and the flow rate for single-phase flow are proposed as a function of the pore-network microstructure and the configuration of the flowing phase. Then, the algorithm is applied to model the displacement of a Bingham plastic by a Newtonian fluid in a porous medium. The results find application to a number of industrial processes including the recovery of oil from oil reservoirs and the flow of foam in porous media. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.