Mathematical simulation on the oil slick spreading and dispersion in nonuniform flow fields

The viscous fluid boundary layer equations were adopted to characterize the velocity distribution across the vertical section of the oil slick on moving water. The velocity profile was found to be the combination of linear and parabolic distribution. A numerical model including spreading and dispersion was developed to describe the oil slick’s early movement in the open and ice-covered water. The flume test was conducted to determine the dispersion coefficients (K_x) and the effects of velocity and wave height on the slick’s dispersion were also investigated. In the open water, K_x increased from 4.34 cm²/s to 20.08 cm²/s as the velocity changed from 3 cm/s to 12 cm/s. Acoefficient β that characterized K_x fluctuated at 1.5 when wave heights were between 20 mm and 70 mm. Under ice, the slick didn’t move until the velocity exceeded 6 cm/s and K_x increased from 2.69 cm²/s to 5.64 cm²/s as the velocity changed from 6 cm/s to 12 cm/s. β remained 0.4 when wave heights were between 20 mm and 60 mm. The model performed very well in predicting the slick’s position and length during the gravitation-inertia phase for the two situations when relevant dispersion coefficients were input.     

A Fully Coupled Chemo-Poroelastic Analysis of Pore Pressure and Stress Distribution around a Wellbore in Water Active Rocks

Water active rocks consist of minerals that hold water in their crystalline structure and in pore spaces. Free water from drilling fluid can be attracted by the formation depending on the potential differences between pore space and drilling fluid. The fluid movement into the formation or out of the formation can lead to a change in effective stress, thus causing wellbore failures. In all previous studies it is found that the solute transport from or to the formation is primarily controlled by diffusion process and the effect of advection on solute transfer is negligible for a range of very low permeable shale formations (>10⁻⁵ mD). In this study a range of permeable shale formations (10⁻⁵ to 10⁻³ mD) commonly encountered in drilling oil and gas wells are considered to investigate the solute transfer between drilling fluid and formation due to advection. For this purpose a finite element model of fully coupled chemo-hydro-mechanical processes was developed. Results of this study revealed that the solute transfer between the drilling fluid and the shale formation is controlled primarily by permeability of the shale formations. For the range of shale formations studied here, there exists a threshold permeability below which the solute transfer is dominated by diffusion process and above which by fluid in motion (fluid flow). Results from the numerical experiments have shown that when the permeability of shales is greater than this threshold permeability, the chemical potential gradient between the pore fluid and drilling fluid reaches equilibrium faster than that when the permeability of shales is below this threshold value. Also it has been found that when advection is taken into account, effective radial and tangential stresses decrease around the wellbore, particularly near the wellbore wall where the solute concentration has reached near equilibrium.     

The effect of viscosity ratio on the dispersal of fracturing fluids into groundwater system

In the development of oil and gas reservoirs, the transport of miscible fluids in porous rocks is a key issue for oil and gas recovery. The simplified unidirectional flow model is employed to investigate the effects of the viscosity ratio on dispersion in semi-infinite homogenous media. The viscosity is supposed to be unsteady due to changing component concentration over time. In cases of both a viscosity ratio larger and less than 1, the pollutant concentration and flow velocity are computed at different initial conditions and viscosity ratios. The analytical solutions are then developed by introducing new variables and transforming the equation governing advection–diffusion equation in semi-infinite homogeneous media with a continuous source. A comparison of the numerical solution with the analytical solution revealed a similarity over 98%, highlighting the usability of the analytical solution. If the viscosity ratio is larger than 1, flow velocity declines exponentially and concentration attenuates with transporting time. In addition, the timescale plays a significant role and the effects become more prominent in long-term transport. In the case of a viscosity ratio less than 1, both the timescale and viscosity ratio variables have little influence on the changing speed of the concentration profile. This work helps to predict the position and the time required to reach the harmless pollutant concentration when monitoring fracturing fluids transportation into groundwater system and would be especially useful in designing and interpreting laboratory experiments studying the miscible flow.     

Modelling the flow of self‐compacting concrete

A Lagrangian particle‐based method, smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH), is used in this paper to model the flow of self‐compacting concretes (SCC) with or without short steel fibres. An incompressible SPH method is presented to simulate the flow of such non‐Newtonian fluids whose behaviour is described by a Bingham‐type model, in which the kink in the shear stress vs shear strain rate diagram is first appropriately smoothed out. The viscosity of the SCC is predicted from the measured viscosity of the paste using micromechanical models in which the second phase aggregates are treated as rigid spheres and the short steel fibres as slender rigid bodies. The basic equations solved in the SPH are the incompressible mass conservation and Navier–Stokes equations. The solution procedure uses prediction–correction fractional steps with the temporal velocity field integrated forward in time without enforcing incompressibility in the prediction step. The resulting temporal velocity field is then implicitly projected on to a divergence‐free space to satisfy incompressibility through a pressure Poisson equation derived from an approximate pressure projection. The results of the numerical simulation are benchmarked against actual slump tests carried out in the laboratory. The numerical results are in excellent agreement with test results, thus demonstrating the capability of SPH and a proper rheological model to predict SCC flow and mould‐filling behaviour. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于三维流-固耦合模型的油井出砂细观机制研究

油井出砂机制的研究是提高油藏产能和石油开采成本减小的关键课题,而常规的宏观力学理论和方法不能全面反映油藏开采过程中油井出砂的发生和发展。鉴于砂岩储层的物理性质和射孔试验特征,从岩土力学的角度建立基于柱坐标系的三维颗粒流数值模型,与理论分析成果进行比较,以说明该细观数值模型可行性,有效地模拟出砂过程中的渗流及流-固耦合效应。在该基础上,综合考虑流体压力梯度力和拖曳力,基于PFC3D模型模拟流体不同运动时的砂岩性态。数值分析得到的模型宏观应力图形说明流体运动对砂岩力学特性的影响不可忽略,且在相同条件下,流量越大,砂岩的塑性区越大,形成砂岩破坏出砂的几率也越大。同时,不同工况的砂岩黏结分布和颗粒转动图形表明,相同条件下流量越大,颗粒间平行黏结破坏越多,颗粒转动越大,失去黏结约束的颗粒也越多,出砂量就越大,可见两种细观特征图形与宏观应力图形变化规律一致,该模型可用于油井出砂机制的研究,可为出砂量预测及出砂控制提供新的研究思路。     

MT3D-通用的三维地下水污染物运移数值模型

定量研究污染物在地下水中的运移过程通常采用数值模拟方法。MT3D是一套基于有限差分方法的污染物运移模拟软件，近年来在国外水文地质和水环境模拟等领域的研究中已经得到较为广泛的认可。MT3D比较全面地考虑了污染物在地下水中的对流、弥散和化学反应等过程，可以灵活处理各种复杂的源汇项和边界条件，能够准确模拟承压、无压和越流含水层中的污染物运移过程。MT3D具有模块化的程序结构、灵活的求解方法以及全面的模拟功能，非常适合实际问题的研究，值得在国内推广使用。     

含水层热量运移中自然热对流作用的数值模拟

较严密地推导了能够描述含水层热量运移中自然热对流作用的水流方程和热量运移方程,并在此基础上建立了一个三维非线性模型.根据模型的特点,提出综合采用Douglas Brian ADI差分法、特征线法返回技术及改进Picard迭代法求解,并给出了计算步骤.模型及数值方法用于模拟上海第二承压含水层中的一个群井储能试验.试验中的自然热对流作用得到了较好的体现,反映出模型合理可靠,方法有效,结果令人满意.     

天然气水合物区多相流体运移模型：以南海神狐海域为例

天然气水合物是重要的海洋油气资源,近年来利用孔隙水地球化学手段结合流体反应运移模型对水合物进行勘探已 成为研究热点。文章针对南海神狐海域钻探GMGS-1航次的数据资料,用孔隙水溴碘摩尔数比值拟合全新世流体运移速率, 构建了二期次非稳态水合物多相流体运移模型,并以SH7站位作为应用,发现自更新世以来研究区水合物成藏系统处于衰 退状态。通过模型参数敏感性分析,了解到影响模型输出的参数权重从高到低依次是沉积物孔隙度、有机质含量和沉积埋 藏速率。进一步数值分析表明,在水合物成藏系统中,有机质含量与水合物饱和度满足线性相关,其他主要参数与饱和度 的关系并非单调函数,且主导水合物稳定区内的甲烷物源是深部外源流体所携带的甲烷。多相流体运移模型对水合物资源 勘查具有一定的理论意义。     

Newspapers as a validation proxy for GIS modeling in Fujairah,United Arab Emirates: identifying flood-prone areas

Prediction and control of blast-induced ground vibration is a matter of concern in mining industry since long. Several approaches ranging from scaled distance regression, different numerical methods to wave superimposition theories have been tried by many researchers for better prediction and control of blast-induced ground vibration. Signature hole analysis is one of the popular simulation methods to predict the ground vibration generated due to production blast. It superimposes the recorded signature hole waveform using a computer program to predict the production blast-induced vibration. The technique inputs the designated time of detonation of each hole and superimposes the waves generated by each hole to predict the nearest value of peak particle velocity and frequency of blast-induced ground vibration. Although a very useful approach, it requires a computer program to simulate the linear superimposition of waveforms. The simulation is not possible for every blast as it takes time and also is difficult for field engineers to simulate every time, whereas it is always easy for blasting engineers to adapt and use an empirical equation/approach for prediction and control of blast-induced ground vibration than simulation. In this paper, an attempt has been made to develop an innovative and simplified analytical approach of signature hole analysis. The simplified sinusoidal wave equation is obtained from recorded signature hole ground vibration waveform properties and is superimposed mathematically according to the multi-hole blast design to predict the production blast-induced ground vibrations. The validation of the developed approach was done in three different sites, and up to 15% more accuracy in prediction of the blast, vibrations are achieved in comparison with signature hole analysis prediction.

     

Detecting surface oil slick related to gas hydrate/petroleum on the ocean bed of South China Sea by ENVI/ASAR radar data

For exploring the distribution of oil slick related to gas hydrate or petroleum in the northern part of South China Sea and evaluating the potential of ENVI/ASAR radar data for detecting oil slick, this paper tries to detect the oil slick on ocean surface of some potential areas in South China Sea and map oil slick from anomaly area in radar image. Seven surface oil slicks in Qiongdongnan Basin and four potential targets of oil slicks in Taixi–Dongsha Basin were detected and extracted by using ENIV/ASAR data. The anomalies of the radar image representing oil slick are validated by in-site sampling and laboratory analyzing. The Gas Chromatograph (GC) results of the extracted oil from the water samples gathered from the sites of detected oil slick demonstrate a typical composition of oil rather than that of ocean microbial origins, and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) concentrations in two designed vertical profiles keep steady in different depths, showing that the organic contents in water column are steady from the deep area to ocean surface. These results suggest the detected oil slick is a thin floating oil rather than a thick spill. Influencing factors to the results of oil slick detection including wind speed, current, small islands and capes as well as deep-sea petroleum reservoirs are discussed. The results in this study exhibit that extracting the anomaly signals related to oil slick related to oil/gas seeps using image processing techniques from ENVI/ASAR data is helpful to predict anomaly areas as potential targets for further exploration in this area.     

感潮河段丁坝局部冲刷三维数值模拟

针对局部冲刷和一般冲刷的不同,建立了考虑垂向水流作用的局部冲刷三维紊流泥沙数学模型,并对往复流和单向流作用下的丁坝局部冲刷进行了验证计算和数值模拟。结果表明,往复流作用下丁坝局部冲刷在冲刷过程和冲淤形态上与单向流有明显不同,若采用单向流作用下的局部冲刷模型试验结果来指导往复流作用下丁坝头防护工程的设计和施工是不利的。     

A combined mathematical geophysical model for prediction of pyrite oxidation and pollutant leaching associated with a coal washing waste dump

The waste produced by coal washing process produces many environmental problems. In this study, the pollution problems associated with the waste produced by Alborz Sharghi Coal Washing Plant was investigated by mathematical modeling. The study area is located at 11 km. to Razmjah coal region and 45 km. to Tehran-Mashhad road in the north part od Iran. To achieve the goal, a few samples were taken from different depths at three points on the waste dump in order to investigate pyrite oxidation and pollution generation. The samples were then analysed, using an AA-670 Shimadzu atomic absorption to determine the fraction of pyrite remained within the waste particles. A numerical finite volume model using Phoenics package has been developed to simulate pyrite oxidation and pollution generation from the Alborz Sharghi coal washing waste dump. The pyrite oxidation reaction is described by the shrinking-core model. Gaseous diffusion is the main mechanism for the transport of oxygen through the waste. The results of numerical modelling were compared with the field observations and close agreement was achieved. A simple mathematical model incorporating advection and hydrodynamic dispersion processes was also presented in order to verify the results of geophysical time-laps method showing transportation of the pollutants through the downstream of the waste dump. Both mathematical model and geophysical time-laps method are agreed in the identification of pollutant transport emanated from the waste dump. The results of such investigations can be used for designing an effective environmental management program.     

A particle tracking transport method for the simulation of resident and flux-averaged concentration of solute plumes in groundwater models

A new numerical technique called the convolution-based particle tracking (CBPT) method is developed to simulate resident or flux-averaged solute concentrations in groundwater models. The method is valid for steady-state flow and linear transport processes such as sorption with a linear sorption isotherm and first-order decay. The CBPT method uses particle tracking to take advantage of the ability of particle-based approaches to maintain sharp fronts for advection-dominated transport problems common in groundwater modeling and because of the flexibility of the random walk method to simulate a wide range of possible forms of the dispersion tensor. Furthermore, the algorithm for carrying out the convolution and superposition calculation from particle tracking results is very efficient. We show that from a single particle tracking run, source term variability, sorption, and decay can all be simulated rapidly without rerunning the underlying transport model unless the flow field or dispersion parameters are changed. A series of verification simulations are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the CBPT method compared to more conventional particle tracking approaches.     

The motion of sediment-water mixtures during intense bedload transport: computer simulations

A new model, which couples fluid and particle dynamics, has been developed to study the motion of the sediment-water mixture during intense bedload transport, including the velocity profiles of both sediment and water, the roughness length of an upper plane bed and the thickness of moving sediment layers. Standard mixing length theory is used to model the motion of water above the boundary between the overlying water and the sediment-water mixture. The turbulent flow within the moving sediment layers is described by a shear stress model, in which the effective viscosity of the flowing water is proportional to the velocity difference between the fluid and the sediment. The particle dynamics method, in which the equations of motion of each of many particles are solved directly, is applied to model the movement of sediment particles. The particle-fluid interaction is expressed by a velocity-squared fluid drag force exerted on each sediment particle. Both computer simulation results and theoretical analysis have shown that the velocities of both sediment and fluid during intense sediment transport decrease exponentially with depth in the top layers of a fast-moving sediment—water mixture. The thickness of the moving sediment layers, obtained from the computer simulation results, is proportional to the shear stress, which agrees with previous experimental observations.     

轻非水相液体在地下环境中的运移特征与模拟预测研究

通过自行设计制备的二维砂箱模拟轻非水相液体(LNAPL)在湿润多孔介质中的渗漏,得出LNAPL在地下环境中的入渗、迁移及分布规律,并利用多相流体理论对其污染机理进行分析.在实验基础上建立模型来预测渗漏的基本特征,即渗流带中污染锋面扩展速度和透镜体的最终形状,预测结果与实测结果较为接近.这种预测模型对控制和治理地下水中LNAPL污染是至关重要的.     

淤泥质河口水沙运动数学模型相关问题

为研究淤泥质河口的水沙运动规律,建立了用于模拟淤泥质河口水沙运动的二维数学模型。该模型采用基于无结构三角网格下的有限体积法对方程组进行离散,结合Roe-MUSCL方法及时间方向的预测-校正格式,使模型在时空方向具有二阶计算精度。模型中分别采用不同方法计算粘性和非粘性泥沙的输移源项,并引入粘性泥沙的起动流速和冲刷率计算公式。采用已有的概化水槽试验数据对模型进行了初步验证。然后模拟了1995年10月小潮及大潮期间海河口的潮流运动与泥沙输移过程,计算得到的潮位、潮流速及含沙量过程与实测过程符合较好,结果表明模型能够用来模拟淤泥质河口粘性和非粘性泥沙的不平衡输移过程。同时还比较了泥沙输移源项的不同处理方式对计算结果的影响,计算表明在淤泥质河口水沙运动数学模型中必须同时考虑粘性和非粘性泥沙的输移。     

Numerical prediction of blast‐induced stress wave from large‐scale underground explosion

This paper presents a numerical model for predicting the dynamic response of rock mass subjected to large‐scale underground explosion. The model is calibrated against data obtained from large‐scale field tests. The Hugoniot equation of state for rock mass is adopted to calculate the pressure as a function of mass density. A piecewise linear Drucker–Prager strength criterion including the strain rate effect is employed to model the rock mass behaviour subjected to blast loading. A double scalar damage model accounting for both the compression and tension damage is introduced to simulate the damage zone around the charge chamber caused by blast loading. The model is incorporated into Autodyn3D through its user subroutines. The numerical model is then used to predict the dynamic response of rock mass, in terms of the peak particle velocity (PPV) and peak particle acceleration (PPA) attenuation laws, the damage zone, the particle velocity time histories and their frequency contents for large‐scale underground explosion tests. The computed results are found in good agreement with the field measured data; hence, the proposed model is proven to be adequate for simulating the dynamic response of rock mass subjected to large‐scale underground explosion. Extended numerical analyses indicate that, apart from the charge loading density, the stress wave intensity is also affected, but to a lesser extent, by the charge weight and the charge chamber geometry for large‐scale underground explosions. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

各向异性密度流模型及其验证

针对密度流流动各向异性的特性,采用非线性k-ε模式求取雷诺应力,结合RNG模型及浮力修正建立了三维密度流模型.应用该三维模型计算了水库温差异重流,分析了温差异重流演进过程,并就流速分布与水温下泄过程与实测资料进行了比较.结果表明,所建模型由于引入非线性RNG模式,能有效反映密度流的各向异性特性,较好地模拟了流场和温度场强烈耦合的水库温差异重流,能准确预测温度分层过程与异重流潜行时间,具有较高精度.     

Impact of single inclined faults on the fluid flow and heat transport: results from 3-D finite element simulations

The impact of inclined faults on the hydrothermal field is assessed by adding simplified structural settings to synthetic models. This study is innovative in carrying out numerical simulations because it integrates the real 3-D nature of flow influenced by a fault in a porous medium, thereby providing a useful tool for complex geothermal modelling. The 3-D simulations for the coupled fluid flow and heat transport processes are based on the finite element method. In the model, one geological layer is dissected by a dipping fault. Sensitivity analyses are conducted to quantify the effects of the fault’s transmissivity on the fluid flow and thermal field. Different fault models are compared with a model where no fault is present to evaluate the effect of varying fault transmissivity. The results show that faults have a significant impact on the hydrothermal field. Varying either the fault zone width or the fault permeability will result in relevant differences in the pressure, velocity and temperature field. A linear relationship between fault zone width and fluid velocity is found, indicating that velocities increase with decreasing widths. The faults act as preferential pathways for advective heat transport in case of highly transmissive faults, whereas almost no fluid may be transported through poorly transmissive faults.     

Predicting contaminant fate and transport in sediment caps: Mathematical modelling approaches

Sediment capping is a remedial option for managing contaminated sediments that involves the artificial placement of a layer of material over a contaminated area. Sorbent materials such as activated C and coke can be used to amend sand caps to improve cap performance. In this study, analytical and numerical modelling approaches were compared for predicting contaminant fate and transport in sediment caps using several diffusion-controlled and advection-dominated contaminant transport scenarios. An analytical tool was used to predict cap performance at steady-state. These results were compared with the results from the numerical CoReTranS model in which the effective diffusivity and degradation rates were modelled as discontinuous functions at a prescribed bioturbation depth. The numerical approach was also applied to modelling a sorptive cap. It was shown that, while the analytical approach can be used to predict steady-state contaminant transport, the numerical approach is needed to evaluate multiple sediment layers with different transport and sorption characteristics and to examine the transient performance between the time that the single layer transient is applicable (i.e., before penetration of the cap containment layer) and until steady-state in the upper layer. For the 30 cm thick sand cap that was considered in this study, the predicted time to reach steady-state conditions for a diffusion-controlled scenario is 1 ka. For an advection-dominated transport, the time to reach steady-state conditions is reduced to 100 a. The activated C-amended sand cap was more effective in isolating the contaminant within the sorbent layer for a sustained period of time (∼100 a). Results from both modelling approaches showed that capping can effectively reduce contaminant flux to the overlying water with critical variables being cap thickness, groundwater velocity, and sediment sorptivity.