Wettability affects two-phase displacements in porous media by determining the microscopic distribution of fluids in pore spaces. The impact of wettability on transport properties at macro-scales has been widely addressed in literature; however pore-level investigations are still demanded for better understanding of the phenomena related to wettability. In this paper, COMSOL MultiphysicsTM was used to investigate the influence of contact angle on two phase (water and oil) flow in porous medium at micro-scale. Cahn-Hilliard phase field equation was solved by finite element with adaptive mesh refinement in 2D modeling done in the present work. Fluid distributions, saturations and pore-scale displacement mechanisms were completely different for water wet and oil wet systems. Oil film thinning and rupture, fluids’ contact line movement and oil drop detachment were recognized as the main pore-level mechanisms in strongly water wet system. Water finger thinning/splitting and water blob trapping were identified in strongly oil wet medium.

Keywords