Optimization of Fluid Front Dynamics in Porous Media Using Rate Control: I. Equal Mobility Fluids

In applications involving this injection of a fluid in a porous medium to displace another fluid, a main objective is the maximization of the displacement efficiency. For a fixed arrangement of injection and production points (sources and sinks), such optimization is possible by controlling the injection rate policy. Despite its practical relevance, however, this aspect has received scant attention in the literature. In this paper, a fundamental approach based on optimal control theory, for the case when the fluids are miscible, of equal viscosity and in the absence of dispersion and gravity effects. Both homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media are considered. From a fluid dynamics viewpoint, this is a problem in the deformation of material lines in porous media, as a function of time-varying injection rates