Artificial neural network (ANN) modeling of dynamic effects on two-phase flow in homogenous porous media

The dynamic effect in two-phase flow in porous media indicated by a dynamic coefficient τ depends on a number of factors (e.g. medium and fluid properties). Varying these parameters parametrically in mathematical models to compute τ incurs significant time and computational costs. To circumvent this issue, we present an artificial neural network (ANN)-based technique for predicting τ over a range of physical parameters of porous media and fluid that affect the flow. The data employed for training the ANN algorithm have been acquired from previous modeling studies. It is observed that ANN modeling can appropriately characterize the relationship between the changes in the media and fluid properties, thereby ensuring a reliable prediction of the dynamic coefficient as a function of water saturation. Our results indicate that a double-hidden-layer ANN network performs better in comparison to the single-hidden-layer ANN models for the majority of the performance tests carried out. While single-hidden-layer ANN models can reliably predict complex dynamic coefficients (e.g. water saturation relationships) at high water saturation content, the double-hidden-layer neural network model outperforms at low water saturation content. In all the cases, the single- and double-hidden-layer ANN models are better predictors in comparison to the regression models attempted in this work.