Use of Pore-Network Models to Simulate Laboratory Corefloods in a Heterogeneous Carbonate Sample

Summary Many carbonate rocks have pore features that are large at the core plug scale. Conventional laboratory assessment of recovery behavior in these carbonates can be unreliable. Pore-network modeling offers an approach to improve our analysis of flow and displacement in such heterogeneous rocks. This paper reports on a systematic approach to link pore model inputs and laboratory data to a calibration methodology, and the subsequent use of a porenetwork model to match laboratory corefloods in a heterogeneous dolomite. It is found that spatial correlation effects, determined from core samples using thin section and computed tomography (CT) data, are important for a satisfactory match.