Evaluation of three lattice Boltzmann models for multiphase flows in porous media

A free energy (FE) model, the Shan–Chen (S–C) model, and the Rothman and Keller (R–K) model are studied numerically to evaluate their performance inmodeling two-dimensional (2D) immiscible two-phase flow in porous media on the pore scale. The FEmodel is proved to satisfy the Galilean invariance through a numerical test and the mass conservation of each component in the simulations is exact. Two-phase layered flow in a channel with different viscosity ratios was simulated. Comparing with analytical solutions, we see that the FEmodel and the R–Kmodel can give very accurate results for flowswith large viscosity ratios. In terms of accuracy and stability, the FE model and the R–K model are much better than the S–C model. Co-current and countercurrent two-phase flows in complex homogeneousmedia were simulated and the relative permeabilities were obtained. Again, it is found that the FEmodel is as good as the R–Kmodel in terms of accuracy and efficiency. The FEmodel is shown to be a good tool for the study of two-phase flowswith high viscosity ratios in porous media. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.