Nabipour - College of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, Shiraz University
Zerafat - College of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, Shiraz University
Escrochi - College of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, Shiraz University
Ayatollahi - College of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering, Shiraz University

Numerical technique has been used to find the liquid saturation profile in layered porous media under the gravity drainage process. Geological surveys clearly indicate that all the sedimentary rocks beneath of the earth are made of different layers. Each layer has its own characteristics such as porosity, permeability, capillary pressure and even wettability. The oil saturation profile during the gas oil gravity drainage (GOGD) process plays an important role for oil recovery efficiency. The oil trapping in the dense layer on the top of more permeable layer is responsible for the low oil recovery during the primary, secondary and even tertiary oil recovery governed by gravity forces. This numerical scheme reveals the importance of capillary pressure in the vicinity of two different layers for the calculation of saturation profile. Several different tests including the single high permeable layer, single low permeable layer, low over the high and high on low permeable strata are done using the proposed technique which are qualitatively confirmed by using two dimensional sintered glass bead models.

GOGD, Layered Porous Media, Saturation Profile, Numerical Calculation