The Onset of Instability During Two-Phase Immiscible Displacement in Porous Media

Abstract

This paper presents a dimensionless number and its critical value for predicting the onset of instability during immiscible displacement in porous media. The critical dimensionless number obtained from a stability theory for a cylindrical system successfully predicted the onset of instability in laboratory floods. Therefore, this number can be used to classify the stability of two-phase incompressible displacements in homogeneous porous media.