It depends what you mean by scaling and what you want to compare. 1 ft/d corresponds to typical fluid velocities in the reservoir which means you get a comparable flux. However, the difference in scales means that at this flux capillary forces can play a greater role than in the field and need to be corrected for in a multiphase flow test. Certainly 1PV/d is achievable in the lab, but not the field, but on the other hand using the same number of PV/d in the lab as you have in the field would give a completely capillary force dominated test that would be extremely time consuming. Your goal should be to estimate properties that are scale independent and can be transfered from one system to another. Models can help to determine how this is done.

Pål Østebø Andersen Thanks for your insight. I am actually trying to compare the expected flow rate in near well region and in the main parts of the reservoir with the flow rate used in the lab.

If you consider flow between two wells most of the flow will be linear. Because of heterogeneity there will be some permeable zones with higher velocity so the average flux will not reflect the variation. Regardless, the flow will be more radial near the well and within some region the velocity increases inversely with distance from the well. The max velocity will depend on injected rate, and the wellbore area. This will not be representative of the typical flux in the reservoir, but will be important for the changes in reactive composition with distance.

Pål Østebø Andersen , Hassan Mahani Thanks for both insights. I really appreciate your helps.

Dear Herman,

I just came across this question and I am wondering if you are asking about how to calculate the coreflood flow rate that is equivalent to lets say 1 ft/day in the field. If so or if anyone else is having this question, you have to know that it depends on the cross sectional area and the porosity of the core sample.

Example:

Core sample porosity = 0.21

Core sample diameter = 3.8 cm = 0.1246 ft

Cross sectional area * porosity= 0.002563 feet square

Flow rate = 0.002563 (feet square) * 1 (ft/day) = 0.002563 cu.ft/day

Convert to cc/min, flow rate = 0.05 cc/min

I hope this helps

Dear Herman,

This could be a late answer, and the above recommendations are valid. I'd like to point out that your question may be misunderstood if the phenomenology of your process is not well-posed. What I mean, is that the scaling of field processes depends not only on geometry and velocity, but on the type of process you want to emulate. If you are trying to study the typical waterflooding process, you should honor some dimensionless numbers mentioned by others (Bond, Capillary, gravity number). If your type of fluid or porous media has availability limitations, your velocity should change to account for it. But if you are trying to reproduce a more complex phenomenon, like the injection of a chemical into the reservoir, I would suggest you look for techniques taking into account the Péclet and Damköhler numbers, leading to a relaxing in some dimensionless groups that your reservoir properties allow to.

Hope this can complement your interesting question.