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140 Principles of Applied Reservoir Simulation
important to note, however, that fingering occurs even in the absence of a porous
medium. If a low viscosity fluid is injected into a cell containing a high viscosity
fluid, the low viscosity fluid will begin to form fingers as it moves through the
fluid. It will not uniformly displace the higher viscosity fluid. These fingers can
have different shapes. Figure 14-6 shows an example of a "skeletal" finger
Figure 14-6. "Skeletal" viscous
finger (after Daccord, et al. 1986;
reprinted by permission of the
American Physical Society).
[Daccord, et al., 1986] while Figure 14-7 illustrates "fleshy" fingers [for
Figure 14-7. Viscous fingering (Fanchi
and Christiansen, 1989; reprinted by
permission of the Society of Petroleum
Engineers).
example, see Paterson, 1985; Fanchi and Christiansen, 1989]. If we watch fingers
evolve in a homogeneous medium (Figure 14-7), we see fingering display a
