Comprehensive comparison of pore-scale models for multiphase flow in porous media

Abstract

The simultaneous flow of multiple fluid phases through a porous solid occurs in many natural and industrial processes. Microscale physical mechanisms such as the relative affinity of the solid for the fluids (i.e., wettability), capillarity, and viscosity combine with pore geometry to produce a wide variety of macroscopic flow patterns. Pore-scale modeling is an essential tool to connect microscale mechanisms with macroscopic patterns, but quantitative comparisons between different models, and with experimental data, are lacking. Here, we perform an unprecedented comparison of state-of-the-art models from 14 leading groups with a recent experimental dataset. The results underscore the challenges of simulating multiphase flows through porous media, highlighting specific areas for further effort in what is already a flourishing field of research.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jun 21, 2019
Source ID
10.1073/pnas.1901619116

Entities

People

  • Abbas Fakhari
  • Albert J. Valocchi
  • Alex Hansen
  • Bauyrzhan K. Primkulov
  • Benzhong Zhao
  • Bruno Chareyre
  • Cass T. Miller
  • Chao Yuan
  • Christopher W. MacMinn
  • Daniel A. Cogswell
  • Diogo Bolster
  • Enrico Segre
  • James E. Mcclure
  • Jianlin Zhao
  • Julien Maes
  • K. Bruning
  • Luis Cueto-felgueroso
  • Martin Brinkmann
  • Maša Prodanović
  • Morten Vassvik
  • Qinjun Kang
  • Rahul Verma
  • Ran Holtzman
  • Ruben Juanes
  • Sebastian Geiger
  • Thomas Hiller
  • Yu Chen
  • Zhibing Yang

Organizations

  • Army Research Office
  • Coventry University
  • Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental, and Transport Systems
  • Division of Earth Sciences
  • ETH Zurich
  • Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
  • Grenoble Alpes University
  • Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • Heriot-Watt University
  • Israel Science Foundation
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • McMaster University
  • National Natural Science Foundation of China
  • Norwegian University of Science and Technology
  • Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research
  • Office of Basic Energy Sciences
  • Research Council of Norway
  • Saarland University
  • Saudi Aramco
  • Technical University of Madrid
  • University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • University of Notre Dame
  • University of Oxford
  • University of Texas at Austin
  • Weizmann Institute of Science
  • Wuhan University

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Materials Science and Engineering.
  • Systems Analysis and Design