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An Improved IMPES Method for Two-Phase Flow in Porous Media

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Abstract

In this paper we develop and numerically study an improved IMPES method for solving a partial differential coupled system for two-phase flow in a three-dimensional porous medium. This improved method utilizes an adaptive control strategy on the choice of a time step for saturation and takes a much larger time step for pressure than for the saturation. Through a stability analysis and a comparison with a simultaneous solution method, we show that this improved IMPES method is effective and efficient for the numerical simulation of two-phase flow and it is capable of solving two-phase coning problems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, Southern Methodist University, Box 750156, Dallas, TX, 75275-0156, U.S.A.

    Zhangxin Chen, Guanren Huan & Baoyan Li

Authors
  1. Zhangxin Chen
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  2. Guanren Huan
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  3. Baoyan Li
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Correspondence to Zhangxin Chen.

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Chen, Z., Huan, G. & Li, B. An Improved IMPES Method for Two-Phase Flow in Porous Media. Transport in Porous Media 54, 361–376 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:TIPM.0000003667.86625.15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:TIPM.0000003667.86625.15

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