Mathematical modelling of flow through consolidated isotropic porous media

A new mathematical model is proposed for time-independent laminar flow through a rigid isotropic and consolidated porous medium of spatially varying porosity. The model is based upon volumetric averaging concepts. Explicit assumptions regarding the mean geometric properties of the porous microstructure lead to a relationship between tortuosity and porosity. Microscopic inertial effects are introduced through consideration of flow development within the pores. A momentum transport equation is derived in terms of the fluid properties, the porous medium porosity and a characteristic length of the microstructure. In the limiting cases of porosity unity and zero, the model yields the required Navier-Stokes equation for free flow and no flow in a solid, respectively.     

Boiling in Porous Media: Model and Simulations

We present a modelization of the heat and mass transfers within a porous medium, which takes into account phase transitions. Classical equations are derived for the mass conservation equation, whereas the equation of energy relies on an entropy balance adapted to the case of a rigid porous medium. The approximation of the solution is obtained using a finite volume scheme coupled with the management of phase transitions. This model is shown to apply in the case of an experiment of heat generation in a porous medium. The vapor phase appearance is well reproduced by the simulations, and the size of the two-phase region is correctly predicted. A result of this study is the evidence of the discrepancy between the air – water capillary and relative permeability curves and water – water vapor ones.     

Thermal Instability in a Porous Medium Layer Saturated by a Nanofluid: Brinkman Model

The onset of convection in a horizontal layer of a porous medium saturated by a nanofluid is studied analytically. The model used for the nanofluid incorporates the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis. For the porous medium, the Brinkman model is employed. Three cases of free–free, rigid–rigid, and rigid–free boundaries are considered. The analysis reveals that for a typical nanofluid (with large Lewis number), the prime effect of the nanofluids is via a buoyancy effect coupled with the conservation of nanoparticles, whereas the contribution of nanoparticles to the thermal energy equation is a second-order effect. It is found that the critical thermal Rayleigh number can be reduced or increased by a substantial amount, depending on whether the basic nanoparticle distribution is top-heavy or bottom-heavy, by the presence of the nanoparticles. Oscillatory instability is possible in the case of a bottom-heavy nanoparticle distribution.     

Flow of Maxwell fluids in porous media

In this paper we analyze the flow of a Maxwell fluid in a rigid porous medium using the method of volume averaging. We first present the local volume averaged momentum equation which contains Darcy-scale elastic effects and undetermined integrals of the spatial deviations of the pressure and velocity. A closure problem is developed in order to determine the spatial deviations and thus obtain a closed form of the momentum equation that contains a time-dependent permeability tensor. To gain some insight into the effects of elasticity on the dynamics of flow in porous media, the entire problem is transformed to the frequency domain through a temporal Fourier transform. This leads to a dynamic generalization of Darcy's law. Analytical results are provided for the case in which the porous medium is modeled as a bundle of capillary tubes, and a scheme is presented to solve the transformed closure problem for a general microstructure.     

Flow through isotropic granular porous media

A generalization of the Navier-Stokes equation is developed to include laminar flow through a rigid isotropic granular porous medium of spatially varying permeability. The model is based on a theory of interspersed continua and the mean geometrical properties of an idealized granular porous microstructure. The derived momentum transport equations are applicable to granular porous media over the entire porosity range from zero through unity. No restriction with respect to flow velocity is imposed, except for the assumption of laminar flow within the pores. The results provide useful and versatile equations and substantiate many of the empirical equations currently in use. One of the major advantages of the generalized momentum equation is its adaptability to numerical simulation.     

Modeling of Heat and Mass Transfer in a Fractured Porous Medium

While fractured formations are possibly the most important contributors to the production of oil worldwide, modeling fractured formations with rigorous treatments has eluded reservoir engineers in the past. To date, one of the most commonly used fractured reservoir models remains the one that was suggested by Warren and Root nearly four decades ago. In this paper, a new model for fractures embedded in a porous medium is proposed. The model considers the Navier-Stokes equation in the fracture (channel flow) while using the Brinkman equation for the porous medium. Unlike the previous approach, the proposed model does not require the assumption of orthogonality of the fractures (sugar cube assumption) nor does it impose incorrect boundary conditions for the interface between the fracture and the porous medium. Also, the transfer coefficient between the fracture and matrix interface does not need to be specified, unlike the cases for which Darcy's law is used. In order to demonstrate the usefulness of the approach, a two-dimensional model of a fractured formation is developed and numerical simulation runs conducted.

The proposed model is derived through a series of finite element modeling runs for various cases using the Navier-Stokes equation in the channel while maintaining the Brinkman equation in the porous medium. Various cases studied include different fracture orientations, fracture frequencies, and thermal and solutal constraints. The usefulness of the proposed model in modeling complex formations is discussed. Finally, a series of numerical runs also provided validity of the proposed model for the cases in which thermal and solutal effects are important. Such a study of double diffusive phenomena, coupled with forced convection, in the context of fractured formations has not been reported before.     

Transient ultrasonic wave propagation in porous material of non-integer space dimension

Acoustic propagation in a self-similar porous medium having a rigid frame is studied. A fractional propagation equation in a porous material of non-integer dimension is established using the variational method (Stillinger–Palmer–Stavrinou formalism). The wave equation is solved analytically in the time domain using the Laplace transform method. The analytical solution of the propagation equation shows the existence of a supersonic wave whose front wave velocity depends on the non-integer dimension and the tortuosity of the self-similar porous material. Numerical simulations of the amplitude of the ultrasonic wave inside the material show the sensitivity of the main important parameters describing the propagation (non-integer dimension, tortuosity, viscous and thermal characteristic lengths). The non-integer dimension seems to be the only parameter which acts on both the amplitude and the velocity of the acoustic wave.     

Enhancement of shock waves in a porous medium saturated with a liquid containing soluble-gas bubbles

Evolution of a moderate-intensity shock wave and its enhancement after reflection from a rigid surface embedded in a porous medium are studied experimentally. The medium is saturated with a liquid that has bubbles of a soluble gas. A physical mechanism of shock wave enhancement in a saturated porous medium is proposed. Experimental data on the amplitude and velocity of reflected waves are compared with results of theoretical modeling. The process of gas bubble dissolution behind a shock wave is studied.     

Propagation of Transient Acoustic Waves in Layered Porous Media: Fractional Equations for the Scattering Operators

Acoustic waves scattering from a rigid air-saturated porous medium is studied in the time domain. The medium is one dimensional and its physical parameters are depth dependent, i.e., the medium is layered. The loss and dispersion properties of the medium are due to the fluid-structure interaction induced by wave propagation. They are modeled by generalized susceptibility functions which express the memory effects in the propagation process. The wave equation is then a fractional telegraphist’s equation. The two relevant quantities are the scattering operators—transmission and reflection operators—which give the scattered fields from the incident wave. They are obtained from Volterra equations which are fractional equations for the scattering operators.     

Effect of rigid boundary on propagation of torsional surface waves in porous elastic layer

The paper presents the effect of a rigid boundary on the propagation of torsional surface waves in a porous elastic layer over a porous elastic half-space using the mechanics of the medium derived by Cowin and Nunziato (Cowin, S. C. and Nunziato, J. W. Linear elastic materials with voids. Journal of Elasticity, 13(2), 125–147 (1983)). The velocity equation is derived, and the results are discussed. It is observed that there may be two torsional surface wave fronts in the medium whereas three wave fronts of torsional surface waves in the absence of the rigid boundary plane given by Dey et al. (Dey, S., Gupta, S., Gupta, A. K., Kar, S. K., and De, P. K. Propagation of torsional surface waves in an elastic layer with void pores over an elastic half-space with void pores. Tamkang Journal of Science and Engineering, 6(4), 241–249 (2003)). The results also reveal that in the porous layer, the Love wave is also available along with the torsional surface waves. It is remarkable that the phase speed of the Love wave in a porous layer with a rigid surface is different from that in a porous layer with a free surface. The torsional waves are observed to be dispersive in nature, and the velocity decreases as the oscillation frequency increases.     

Throughflow Effects on Penetrative Convection in Superposed Fluid and Porous Layers

The effect of vertical throughflow on the onset of penetrative convection simulated via internal heating in a two-layer system in which a layer of fluid overlies and saturates a layer of porous medium is studied. Flow in the porous medium is governed by Forchheimer-extended Darcy equation, and Beavers?CJoseph slip condition is applied at the interface between the fluid and the porous layers. The boundaries are considered to be rigid, however permeable, and insulated to temperature perturbations. The eigenvalue problem is solved using a regular perturbation technique with wave number as a perturbation parameter. The ratio of fluid layer thickness to porous layer thickness, ??, the direction of throughflow, and the presence of volumetric internal heat source in fluid and/or porous layer play a decisive role on the stability characteristics of the system. In addition, the influence of Prandtl number arising due to throughflow is also emphasized on the stability of the system. It is observed that both stabilizing and destabilizing factors can be enhanced because of the simultaneous presence of a volumetric heat source and vertical throughflow so that a more precise control (suppress or augment) of thermal convective instability in a layer of fluid or porous medium is possible.     

Shock waves in saturated thermoelastic porous media

The objective of this paper is to develop and present the macroscopic motion equations for the fluid and the solid matrix, in the case of a saturated porous medium, in the form of coupled, nonlinear wave equations for the fluid and solid velocities. The nonlinearity in the equations enables the generation of shock waves. The complete set of equations required for determining phase velocities in the case of a thermoelastic solid matrix, includes also the energy balance equation for the porous medium as a whole, as well as mass balance equations for the two phase. In the special case of a rigid solid matrix, the wave after an abrupt change in pressure propagates only through the fluid.     

STUDY ON ANALYSIS METHOD OF “THREE BOX” IN HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER PROCESS OF RESERVOIR MEDIA

油藏多孔介质孔隙组成及结构变化多样,一些特性参数很难全部获得,精确描述和分析困难;另外,多孔介质内渗流过程水力条件和作用机理复杂,存在热流固耦合作用,目前的一些分析方法和研究模型具有一定的局限性.提出了油藏多孔介质的表征单元体（representative elementary volume,REV）描述表征方法;基于表征单元体建立了多孔介质的黑箱模型、灰箱模型和白箱模型,据此提出了多孔介质的“黑箱→灰箱→白箱”分析过程.基于黑箱模型和灰箱模型推导了REV导热系数计算公式、给出了REV热质传递过程的热平衡方程.结合中国油藏热采情况,对多孔介质导热系数变化规律和蒸汽驱热质传递特性进行了分析,得到了一些有意义的结果.该工作为多孔介质热质传递过程分析提供了新思路和新方法.     

Modelling high speed flow of a compressible fluid in a saturated porous medium

A modification to the Forchheimer-Brinkman equation, for the modelling of high speed flow of a compressible fluid in a dense saturated porous medium, is proposed. The modified equation is applied to a flow in which choking can occur.