On Preferential Flow, Channeling and Connectivity in Heterogeneous Porous Formations |
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Authors: | A Fiori I Jankovic |
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Institution: | 1. Universit?? di Roma Tre, Rome, Italy 2. State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, USA
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Abstract: | This paper analyzes the emergence of channeling and preferential flow in heterogeneous porous media. Connectivity is studied
through the statistical characterization of the length L of connected, high velocity patterns in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional media. A simple, physically based, fully
analytic expression for the probability of L has been derived. It is found that the length L of connected, high velocity channels is flow-related and can be much larger than the conductivity integral scale I. Heterogeneity has a considerable impact on emergence of channeling patterns; connectivity is considerably enhanced in three-dimensional
structures as compared to two-dimensional ones. The strong dependence on space dimensionality is a warning against the use
of two-dimensional numerical models for assessing connectivity and preferential flow in heterogeneous media. The probability
p(L) is employed in order to determine the early arrivals of the breakthrough curve at a given control plane; the simple model
can be used for a preliminary assessment of preferential flow. Comparison with numerical simulations confirms that the main
connectivity features were adequately captured by the model. |
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