Transport in ordered and disordered porous media III: Closure and comparison between theory and experiment

In this paper we examine the closure problem associated with the volume averaged form of the Stokes equations presented in Part II. For both ordered and disordered porous media, we make use of a spatially periodic model of a porous medium. Under these circumstances the closure problem, in terms of theclosure variables, is independent of the weighting functions used in the spatial smoothing process. Comparison between theory and experiment suggests that the geometrical characteristics of the unit cell dominate the calculated value of the Darcy's law permeability tensor, whereas the periodic conditions required for thelocal form of the closure problem play only a minor role.Roman Letters A interfacial area of the- interface contained within the macroscopic region, m² - A _e area of entrances and exits for the-phase contained within the macroscopic system, m² - A interfacial area of the- interface associated with the local closure problem, m² - A _p surface area of a particle, m² - b vector used to represent the pressure deviation, m^–1 - B ⁰ B+I, a second order tensor that maps v _m ontov - B second-order tensor used to represent the velocity deviation - d _p 6V _p/A_p, effective particle diameter, m - d a vector related to the pressure, m - D a second-order tensor related to the velocity, m² - g gravity vector, m/s² - I unit tensor - K traditional Darcy's law permeability tensor calculated on the basis of a spatially periodic model, m² - K _m permeability tensor for the weighted average form of Darcy's law, m² - L general characteristic length for volume averaged quantities, m - L _p characteristic length for the volume averaged pressure, m - L characteristic length for the porosity, m - L _v characteristic length for the volume averaged velocity, m - characteristic length (pore scale) for the-phase - _i i=1, 2, 3 lattice vectors, m - weighting function - m(-y) , convolution product weighting function - m _v special convolution product weighting function associated with the traditional averaging volume - m _g general convolution product weighting function - m _V unit cell convolution product weighting function - m _C special convolution product weighting function for ordered media which produces the cellular average - n unit normal vector pointing from the-phase toward the -phase - p pressure in the-phase, N/m² - p _m superficial weighted average pressure, N/m² - p _m intrinsic weighted average pressure, N/m² - p traditional intrinsic volume averaged pressure, N/m² - p – p _m , spatial deviation pressure, N/m² - r ₀ radius of a spherical averaging volume, m - r _m support of the convolution product weighting function - r position vector, m - r position vector locating points in the-phase, m. - V averaging volume, m³ - B volume of the-phase contained in the averaging volume, m³ - V _cell volume of a unit cell, m³ - v velocity vector in the-phase, m/s - v _m superficial weighted average velocity, m/s - v _m intrinsic weighted average velocity, m/s - v traditional superficial volume averaged velocity, m/s - v – v _m , spatial deviation velocity, m/s - x position vector locating the centroid of the averaging volume or the convolution product weighting function, m - y position vector relative to the centroid, m - y position vector locating points in the -phase relative to the centroid, m Greek Letters indicator function for the-phase - Dirac distribution associated with the- interface - V /V, volume average porosity - _m m * , weighted average porosity - mass density of the-phase, kg/m³ - viscosity of the-phase, Ns/m²