Research papersTwo-phase flow properties in aperture-based fractures under normal deformation conditions: Analytical approach and numerical simulation

•The two-phase flow properties of fractures with normal deformation is presented.•A numerical model for two-phase flow behavior of deformed fractures is proposed.•The effect of aperture distribution and correlation on two-phase flow is quantified.

A systematic method has been proposed to estimate the two-phase flow properties of horizontal fractures under normal deformation condition. Based on Gaussian aperture distributions and the assumption of local parallel plate model, a simple model was obtained in closed form to predict the capillary pressure-saturation relationships for both wetting and non-wetting phases. Three conceptual models were also developed to characterize the relative permeability behaviors. In order to investigate the effect of normal deformation on two-phase flow properties, the normal deformation could be represented with the maximum void space closure on the basis of penetration model. A rigorous successive random addition (SRA) method was used to generate the aperture-based fractures and a numerical approach based on invasion percolation (IP) model was employed to model capillary-dominated displacements between wetting and non-wetting phases. The proposed models were partially verified by a laboratory dataset and numerical calculations without consideration of deformation. Under large normal deformations, it was found that the macroscopic model is in better agreement with simulated observations. The simulation results demonstrated that the two-phase flow properties including the relationships between capillary pressure, relative permeability and saturation, phase interference, phase structures, residual-saturation-rated parameters and tortuosity factor, were highly sensitive to the spatial correlation of aperture distribution and normal deformation.