A two-grid method for coupled free flow with porous media flow

This paper presents a two-grid method for solving systems of partial differential equations modelling incompressible free flow coupled with porous media flow. This work considers both the coupled Stokes and Darcy as well as the coupled Navier-Stokes and Darcy problems. The numerical schemes proposed are based on combinations of the continuous finite element method and the discontinuous Galerkin method. Numerical errors and convergence rates for solutions obtained from the two-grid method are presented. CPU times for the two-grid algorithm are shown to be significantly less than those obtained by solving the fully coupled problem.     

含流体孔隙介质中面波的传播特性及应用

基于单相介质中地震波理论的高频面波法已广泛应用于求取浅地表S波的速度.然而水文地质条件表明, 普遍的浅地表地球介质富含孔隙.孔隙中充填的流体会显著地影响面波在浅地表的传播, 进而造成频散和衰减的变化.本文研究了地震勘探频段内针对含流体孔隙介质边界条件的面波的传播特性.孔隙流体在自由表面存在完全疏通、完全闭合以及部分疏通的情况.孔隙单一流体饱和时, 任何流体边界条件下存在R1模式波, 与弹性介质中的 Rayleigh 波类似, 相速度稍小于S波并在地震记录中显示强振幅.由于介质的内在衰减, R1在均匀半空间中也存在频散, 相速度和衰减在不同流体边界下存在差异.Biot 固流耦合系数(孔隙流体黏滞度与骨架渗透率之比)控制频散的特征频率, 高耦合系数会在地震勘探频带内明显消除这种差异.介质的迂曲度等其他物性参数对不同流体边界下的R1波的影响也有不同的敏感度.完全闭合和部分疏通流体边界下存在R2模式波, 相速度略低于慢P波.在多数条件下, 如慢P波在时频响应中难以观察到.但是在耦合系数较低时会显现, 一定条件下甚至会以非物理波形式接收R1波的辐射, 显示强振幅.浅表风化层低速带存在, 震源激发时的运动会显著影响面波的传播.对于接收点径向运动会造成面波的 Doppler 频移, 横向运动会造成面波的时频畸变.孔隙存在多相流体时, 中观尺度下不均匀斑块饱和能很好地解释体波在地震频带内的衰减.快P波受到斑块饱和显著影响, R1波与快P波有更明显关联, 与完全饱和模型中不同, 也更易于等效模型建立.频散特征频率受孔隙空间不同流体成分比例变化的控制, 为面波方法探测浅地表流体分布与迁移提供可能性.通常情况孔隙介质频散特征频率较高, 标准线性黏弹性固体可以在相对低频的地震勘探频带内等效表征孔隙介质中R1波的传播特征, 特别在时域, 可在面波成像反演建模中应用.     

A two-scale operator-splitting method for two-phase flow in porous media

In this paper, we develop a two-scale operator-splitting method for the classical two-phase flow model, which handles advective and diffusive processes on different grids. The aim is to reduce computational complexity without loss of accuracy by using the numerical flexibility of operator-splitting techniques. To enhance the stability and the robustness with regards to sharp fronts, an additional slope limiter is introduced as a local post-processing step. For simplicity of notation, we provide the method in one dimension first and then generalize it to higher dimensions. Numerical examples illustrate the effect of the slope-limiting step and show the performance and flexibility of the proposed two-scale method.     

A peridynamic model of flow in porous media

This paper presents a nonlocal, derivative free model for transient flow in unsaturated, heterogeneous, and anisotropic soils. The formulation is based on the peridynamic model for solid mechanics. In the proposed model, flow and changes in moisture content are driven by pairwise interactions with other points across finite distances, and are expressed as functional integrals of the hydraulic potential field. Peridynamic expressions of the rate of change in moisture content, moisture flux, and flow power are derived, as are relationships between the peridynamic and the classic hydraulic conductivities; in addition, the model is validated. The absence of spacial derivatives makes the model a good candidate for flow simulations in fractured soils and lends itself to coupling with peridynamic mechanical models for simulating crack formation triggered by shrinkage and swelling, and assessing their potential impact on a wide range of processes, such as infiltration, contaminant transport, and slope stability.     

A numerical procedure for three-dimensional transient free surface seepage

A three-dimensional procedure based on the finite element method is proposed for transient free surface seepage. It involves solution of the governing equations by using a time integration scheme. The procedure is applied for solution of confined, and transient free surface flow; the latter includes verification with respect to test results from a laboratory model. It is also applied to free surface flow through a dam with a crack.     

A new benchmark semi-analytical solution for density-driven flow in porous media

A new benchmark semi-analytical solution is proposed for the verification of density-driven flow codes. The problem deals with a synthetic square porous cavity subject to different salt concentrations at its vertical walls. A steady state semi-analytical solution is investigated using the Fourier–Galerkin method. Contrarily to the standard Henry problem, the cavity benchmark allows high truncation orders in the Fourier series and provides semi-analytical solutions for very small diffusion cases. The problem is also investigated numerically to validate the semi-analytical solution. The obtained results represent a set of new test case high quality data that can be effectively used for benchmarking density-driven flow codes.     

Conservation equations for nonisothermal flow in porous media

This paper presents the mass, momentum and energy equations that can be applied to nonisothermal flow in porous media. These equations are derived by taking a suitable volume average of the microscopic equations. The resulting macroscopic equations are then appropriate for experimental comparison.     

Model coupling for multiphase flow in porous media

Numerical models for flow and transport in porous media are valid for a particular set of processes, scales, levels of simplification and abstraction, grids etc. The coupling of two or more specialised models is a method of increasing the overall range of validity while keeping the computational costs relatively low. Several coupling concepts are reviewed in this article with a focus on the authors’ work in this field. The concepts are divided into temporal and spatial coupling concepts, of which the latter is subdivided into multi-process, multi-scale, multi-dimensional, and multi-compartment coupling strategies. Examples of applications for which these concepts can be relevant include groundwater protection and remediation, carbon dioxide storage, nuclear-waste disposal, soil dry-out and evaporation processes as well as fuel cells and technical filters.     

A practical model for mobile, residual, and entrapped NAPL in water-wet porous media

Flow of nonvolatile nonaqueous phase liquid (NAPL) and aqueous phases that account for mobile, entrapped, and residual NAPL in variably saturated water-wet porous media is modeled and compared against results from detailed laboratory experiments. Residual saturation formation in the vadose zone is a process that is often ignored in multifluid flow simulators, which might cause an overestimation of the volume of NAPL that reaches the ground water. Mobile NAPL is defined as being continuous in the pore space and flows under a pressure gradient or gravitational body force. Entrapped NAPL is defined as being occluded by the aqueous phase, occurring as immobile ganglia surrounded by aqueous phase in the pore space and formed when NAPL is replaced by the aqueous phase. Residual NAPL is defined as immobile, nonwater entrapped NAPL that does not drain from the pore spaces and is conceptualized as being either continuous or discontinuous. Free NAPL comprises mobile and residual NAPL. The numerical model is formulated on mass conservation equations for oil and water, transported via NAPL and aqueous phases through variably saturated porous media. To account for phase transitions, a primary variable switching scheme is implemented for the oil-mass conservation equation over three phase conditions: (1) aqueous or aqueous-gas with dissolved oil, (2) aqueous or aqueous-gas with entrapped NAPL, and (3) aqueous or aqueous gas with free NAPL. Two laboratory-scale column experiments are modeled to verify the numerical model. Comparisons between the numerical simulations and experiments demonstrate the necessity to include the residual NAPL formation process in multifluid flow simulators.     

Turbulent flow through porous media

The pressure driving flow through porous media must be equal to the viscous resistance plus the inertial resistance. Formulas are developed for both the viscous resistance and the inertial resistance. The expression for the coefficient of permeability consists of parameters which describe the characteristics of the porous medium and the permeating fluid and which, for unconsolidated isotropic granular media, are all measurable. A procedure is proposed for testing for the occurrence of turbulence and calculating the effective permeability when it occurs. The formulas are applied to a set of data from 588 permeameter runs ranging from laminar to highly turbulent. The equations fit the data from the permeameter closely through the laminar flow conditions and quite closely through the turbulent conditions. In the turbulent range, the plotting of the data separates into three distinct lines for each of the three shapes of particles used in the tests. For the porous medium and fluid of these tests, turbulence begins at a head gradient of about 0.1.     

A numerical method for simulating non-Newtonian fluid flow and displacement in porous media

Flow and displacement of non-Newtonian fluids in porous media occurs in many subsurface systems, related to underground natural resource recovery and storage projects, as well as environmental remediation schemes. A thorough understanding of non-Newtonian fluid flow through porous media is of fundamental importance in these engineering applications. Considerable progress has been made in our understanding of single-phase porous flow behavior of non-Newtonian fluids through many quantitative and experimental studies over the past few decades. However, very little research can be found in the literature regarding multi-phase non-Newtonian fluid flow or numerical modeling approaches for such analyses.For non-Newtonian fluid flow through porous media, the governing equations become nonlinear, even under single-phase flow conditions, because effective viscosity for the non-Newtonian fluid is a highly nonlinear function of the shear rate, or the pore velocity. The solution for such problems can in general only be obtained by numerical methods.We have developed a three-dimensional, fully implicit, integral finite difference simulator for single- and multi-phase flow of non-Newtonian fluids in porous/fractured media. The methodology, architecture and numerical scheme of the model are based on a general multi-phase, multi-component fluid and heat flow simulator — TOUGH2. Several rheological models for power-law and Bingham non-Newtonian fluids have been incorporated into the model. In addition, the model predictions on single- and multi-phase flow of the power-law and Bingham fluids have been verified against the analytical solutions available for these problems, and in all the cases the numerical simulations are in good agreement with the analytical solutions. In this presentation, we will discuss the numerical scheme used in the treatment of non-Newtonian properties, and several benchmark problems for model verification.In an effort to demonstrate the three-dimensional modeling capability of the model, a three-dimensional, two-phase flow example is also presented to examine the model results using laboratory and simulation results existing for the three-dimensional problem with Newtonian fluid flow.     

A mixed-dimensional finite volume method for two-phase flow in fractured porous media

We present a vertex-centered finite volume method for the fully coupled, fully implicit discretization of two-phase flow in fractured porous media. Fractures are discretely modeled as lower dimensional elements. The method works on unstructured, locally refined grids and on parallel computers with distributed memory. An implicit time discretization is employed and the nonlinear systems of equations are solved with a parallel Newton-multigrid method. Results from two-dimensional and three-dimensional simulations are presented.     

Effective parameters for flow in saturated heterogeneous porous media

Effective parameters for flow in saturated porous media are obtained via Taylor-Aris-Brenner moment analysis considering both periodic as well as stationary porous medium properties. It is assumed that a slug is instantaneously introduced into an unbounded, anisotropic porous medium having a compressible matrix, and that the correlation length of the local hydraulic conductivity and specific storage fluctuations is smaller than the correlation length of hydraulic head fluctuations (gradually varying flow). It is shown that the effective specific storage is equal to its volume average. The effective hydraulic conductivity is derived by a small-perturbation analysis and it is shown to consist of its volume average and of a second term which accounts for the ‘small’ local conductivity fluctuations.     

A new approach for phase transitions in miscible multi-phase flow in porous media

The tightly coupled, strongly nonlinear nature of non-isothermal multi-phase flow in porous media poses a tough challenge for numerical simulation. This trait is even more pronounced, if miscibility is also considered. A primary reason why inclusion of miscibility tends to be problematic are the difficulties stemming from phase transitions: on the one hand, phase transitions need to be included since the presence or absence of fluid phases has a major impact on the flow behavior; on the other hand, convergence of the nonlinear solver may be severely affected if they are not handled robustly.In this work, we present a mathematically sound approach to include phase transitions in the nonlinear system of equations: first, the transition conditions are formulated as a set of local inequality constraints, which are then directly integrated into the nonlinear solver using a nonlinear complementarity function. Under this scheme, Newton-Raphson solvers exhibit considerably more robust convergence behaviour compared to some previous approaches, which is then illustrated by several numerical examples.     

A numerical method for two-phase flow in fractured porous media with non-matching grids

We propose a novel computational method for the efficient simulation of two-phase flow in fractured porous media. Instead of refining the grid to capture the flow along the faults or fractures, we represent the latter as immersed interfaces, using a reduced model for the flow and suitable coupling conditions. We allow for non matching grids between the porous matrix and the fractures to increase the flexibility of the method in realistic cases. We employ the extended finite element method for the Darcy problem and a finite volume method that is able to handle cut cells and matrix-fracture interactions for the saturation equation. Moreover, we address through numerical experiments the problem of the choice of a suitable numerical flux in the case of a discontinuous flux function at the interface between the fracture and the porous matrix. A wrong approximate solution of the Riemann problem can yield unphysical solutions even in simple cases.     

Adaptive multi-scale parameterization for one-dimensional flow in unsaturated porous media

In the analysis of the unsaturated zone, one of the most challenging problems is to use inverse theory in the search for an optimal parameterization of the porous media. Adaptative multi-scale parameterization consists in solving the problem through successive approximations by refining the parameter at the next finer scale all over the domain and stopping the process when the refinement does not induce significant decrease of the objective function any more. In this context, the refinement indicators algorithm provides an adaptive parameterization technique that opens the degrees of freedom in an iterative way driven at first order by the model to locate the discontinuities of the sought parameters. We present a refinement indicators algorithm for adaptive multi-scale parameterization that is applicable to the estimation of multi-dimensional hydraulic parameters in unsaturated soil water flow. Numerical examples are presented which show the efficiency of the algorithm in case of noisy data and missing data.     

Deterministic sensitivity analysis for a model for flow in porous media

A deterministic method for sensitivity analysis is developed and applied to a mathematical model for the simulation of flow in porous media. The method is based on the singular value decomposition (SVD) of the Jacobian matrix of the model. It is a local approach to sensitivity analysis providing a hierarchical classification of the directions in both the input space and of those in the output space reflecting the degree of sensitiveness of the latter to the former. Its low computational cost, in comparison with that of statistical approaches, allows the study of the variability of the results of the sensitivity analysis due to the variations of the input parameters of the model, and thus it can provide a quality criterion for the validity of more classical probabilistic global approaches. For the example treated here, however, this variability is weak, and deterministic and statistical methods yield similar sensitivity results.     

A note on benchmarking of numerical models for density dependent flow in porous media

Verification of numerical models for density dependent flow in porous media (DDFPM) by the means of appropriate benchmark problems is a very important step in developing and using these models. Recently, Infinite Horizontal Box (IHB) problem was suggested as a possible benchmark problem for verification of DDFPM codes. IHB is based on Horton–Rogers–Lapwood (HRL) problem. Suitability of this problem for the benchmarking purpose has been investigated in this paper. It is shown that the wavelength of instabilities fails to be a proper criterion to be considered for this problem. However, the threshold of instability formation has been found to be appropriate for benchmarking purpose.