The effects of filtration on the injection of cement-based grouts in sand columns

This article presents injection experiments and modeling of cement based grout in sand. In particular, it focuses on the role of filtration during the sand impregnation by the grout. One-dimensional injection tests in sand columns are performed. In these, the mass intake of the sample and the injection pressure are measured to quantify the effects of filtration during grouting. The cement-to-water ratio of the grout and the initial density of the soil are also studied. The modeling of these tests is achieved by incorporating the filtration and the damage coefficients in the classical transport in porous media equations. A method is proposed to determine these coefficients. The method simultaneously relies on both analytical analysis and experimental measurements. Density and viscosity effects are also considered in the model equations which are solved using the finite element method. The simulation of an injection test proves that the model is suitable to recover the injection pressure obtained experimentally. Finally, both experimental and numerical results reveal the importance of including filtration when analyzing one-dimensional injections of cement based grouts in sand.     

The use of rheology in the study of the composition effects on the fresh behaviour of hydraulic lime grouts for injection of masonry walls

The injection of grouts inside multi-leaf stone masonries is a technique widely used for structural consolidation. To ensure an adequate flow of the grout inside the masonry, it is crucial to assure good fresh grout properties, such as good rheological behaviour. The scope of this paper is to provide preliminary indications and valuable data about the effects of specific hydraulic lime grout composition on their rheological behaviour with the purpose of a successful injection process. Through the use of rotational rheometer together with the Taguchi method, it was possible to study the influence of water/binder ratio, the type and dosage of superplasticizer and the partial replacement of hydraulic lime by silica fume, upon the grout rheological properties. The study leads to the conclusion that polycarboxylate-based superplasticizers present better performance from a rheological point of view than the naphthalene-based superplasticizer and that the water/binder ratio and superplasticizer dosage are the most determinant factors in the fresh grout rheological behaviour. On the other hand, silica fume dosage turned out to be the factor with the least contribution to improve the grout rheological behaviour compared to the other two factors reported in this study. The results summarised in this paper are part of a larger study and precede the analysis of the performance of those grouts when injected into different porous media that simulate old masonries.     

Conservative Solute Versus Heat Transport in Porous Media During Push-pull Tests

Both heat and solute transport in porous media are described by partial differential equations of similar form. Nevertheless, observing these phenomena in the field on the scale of well tests clearly indicates dissimilar behaviour. This article studies the aforementioned transport processes by interpreting two push-pull tests of different duration. In both tests, chloride is applied as a conservative tracer and lower temperature water is injected in higher temperature pristine water at different flow rates. Simulation and interpretation of the tests are performed by means of ReacTrans, a two-dimensional, axially symmetric, finite-difference, solute and heat transport model. Since conflicting views exist in literature on the relation between solute and thermal dispersivity, analysis of field observations focuses on parameters which describe aquifer characteristics affecting these processes. Parameter estimation is conducted through sensitivity analysis and collinear diagnosis in order to identify derivable parameters. It is concluded that longitudinal solute dispersivity and thermal diffusivity could be inferred accurately from chloride and temperature data sampled from the injection/extraction well respectively. Involving supplementary data sampled from an observation well enables derivation of effective porosity from chloride data and thermal retardation from temperature data. Moreover, it is inferred that longitudinal solute dispersivity is scale dependent. Thermal diffusivity, however, seems not to be. This points to dissimilar development of transition zones during solute and heat transport. It is concluded that conductive transport of heat is much more important than effects of velocity variations through the pore space.     

Filtration Behaviour of Cement-Based Grout in Porous Media

Filtration behaviour of cement particles, especially under the high grouting pressure with a rapid grout flow velocity, has a significant effect on the grout injection. However, there have been few studies on this field where the governing equation of this behaviour remains unclear. In the present study, a novel experimental procedure for grout injection was adopted to acquire the spatial and temporal variations in porosity and viscosity of high-speed grout flow in coarse sand. Experimental observations showed that there were dramatic variations in viscosity and porosity during the grout penetration within the first 50 s, suggesting that the high velocity had a significant influence on the distribution of the filtration coefficient. A model based on the Stokes–Brinkman (S–B) equation and advection–filtration equations was established to describe the filtration of grout flow in porous media. Meanwhile, numerical solutions from both the proposed model and traditional Darcy’s law were compared with experimental results. The comparative results showed that the proposed approach can match the laboratory tests well; the analysis indicated that Darcy’s law was unable to properly describe high-speed grout flow in porous media due to the lack of a shear force and the inertial term. Nonuniform filtration behaviour of cement grout flowing in porous media was revealed. Due to the nonuniform distribution of the pore velocity isoline caused by Poiseuille flow, it led to a heterogenous distribution of porosity as well. Parametric studies on the applicability of Darcy’s law and S–B equation for grout flow were discussed, in which an error of less than 10% was calculated when the Reynolds number was less than 2.5.     

How to predict viscous fingering in three component flow

In a WAG process (Water Alternate Gas), water and a miscible solvent (gas) are injected into a reservoir containing water and oil. The solvent will finger through the oil, leading to early breakthrough and poor recovery. Compared with a miscible flood, when only solvent is injected, fingering is supressed by the simultaneous injection of water, since this reduces the apparent mobility contrast between the injected and displaced fluids. The fingering in a miscible flood, with only hydrocarbon flowing, can be modelled successfully using a Todd and Longstaff fractional flow. In this paper, we demonstrate how to modify the effective Todd and Longstaff mobility ratio self-consistently to account for fingering in three component systems. The resultant empirical equations of flow are solved exactly in one dimension and are in excellent agreement with the averaged saturation and concentration profiles computed using two dimensional high resolution simulation, for a variety of injected water saturations, in both secondary and tertiary displacements.     

Infiltration of Salt Solute in Homogeneous and Saturated Porous Media – An Analytical Solution Evaluated by Numerical Simulations

In many cases various land disposal activities (e.g. infiltration, injection wells) constitute an important potential source of groundwater contamination. Using a 2D physical model, the behaviour of the infiltration of a salt solute, locally injected in a homogeneous and saturated porous medium, has been analysed. Under various experimental conditions (density effects, injection flow rate) the salt solute penetrates the porous media and leads to a steady-state regime inside the mixing zone. By using experimental observations, the basic equations describing the flow and transport phenomena can be simplified and an analytical solution obtained. Its validity is subject to numerical verification. The numerical model, based on the development of the mass balance equation expressed by its conservative form, uses a combination of the mixed hybrid finite element (MHFE) and discontinuous finite element (DFE) methods. The efficiency of this numerical model was previously verified on standard benchmarks, for example Elder's problem and Henry's problem. In the first step, the qualitative good agreement between the experimental and numerical results enabled us to use the numerical model in order to verify some hypotheses resulting from visual observations. Thus, the numerical results reveal the existence of a steady-state regime inside the mixing zones. Nevertheless, both its vertical and longitudinal extensions are less than those observed in the physical model. In the second step, the numerical results enable to establish the validity domain as well as the accuracy of the proposed analytical solution.     

Strong mass injection at the surface of a blunt body in a supersonic flow

The case of supersonic flow over a blunt body when another gas is injected through the surface of the body in accordance with a given law is theoretically investigated. If molecular transport processes are neglected, the flow between the shock wave and the surface of the body should be regarded as two-layer, that is, as consisting of the flow in the shock layer between the shock wave and the contact surface and the flow in the layer of injected gas. A numerical solution of the problem is obtained near the front of the body and its accuracy is estimated. Approximate analytic solutions are obtained in the injected-gas layer: a constant-density solution and a solution of the boundary-layer type in the local similarity approximation. Near the flow axis the numerical and analytic solutions are fairly close, but at a distance from the axis the assumptions made reduce the accuracy of the approximate solutions. The flow in question can serve as a gas-dynamic model of a series of problems describing the radiant heating of blunt bodies in a hypersonic flow. In the presence of intense radiative heat transfer, vaporization is so great that the thickness of the vapor layer is comparable with the thickness of the shock layer. Moreover, the thermal shielding of various kinds of obstacles in channels through which a radiating plasma flows can be organized by means of the forced injection of a strong absorber. The formulation of a similar problem was reported in [1], but the results of the solution were not given. A two-layer model of the flow of an ideal gas over a blunt body was used in [2, 3] for the analysis of radiative heat transfer. In [2] the neighborhood of the stagnation point is considered. In [3] preliminary results relating to two-layer flow over blunt cones are presented. The solution is obtained by Maslen's approximate method.Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR. Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 89–97, March–April, 1972.     

The effect of footpiece design on the performance of a small air lift pump

A small air lift pump made from 24·3 mm bore glass tube has been tested with two different air injection footpiece designs. In one (the air-jacket design), air was injected radially inwards, and in the other (the nozzle design), air was injected axially at inlet to the riser. Each design has been tested using a variety of injection hole sizes and numbers. With the air-jacket design, the pump discharge characteristic was found to be independent of the number and sizes of the injection holes. The nozzle design showed greater pumping capability at high air flow rates and with small orifice area, but the efficiency was then very low. Some comparisons with the theoretical model of Stenning and Martin (9) have been made, and the model has been extended to take account of the momentum of the air injected in the nozzle footpiece.     

幂律型浆液扩散压力环向分布模型

为研究幂律型浆液注浆时注浆压力的变化情况,考虑盾尾断面新注入浆液与已注入浆液间阻碍作用,假设壁后注浆时盾尾形成三维环形空隙,提出了幂律型浆液扩散压力环向分布模型,并利用流体力学理论推导了幂律型浆液扩散压力环向分布式,分析了公式适用范围以及各参数的实际意义。与实际工程数据对比,验证了模型和计算式的正确性。结果表明,计算式可以反映注浆时环向分布各个位置压力值的大小;当公式中稠度系数n=1时,该式即为牛顿流体计算式,环向压力扩散模型同样适用,且幂律型流体环向扩散压力小于牛顿流体;受浆液自重影响,注浆孔注浆时向上表现为减压,向下表现为加压;压力环向分布断面呈现出上窄下宽的不规则环形;同一注浆孔幂律型浆液水灰比越大,浆液扩散压力越小。     

Fingering patterns on an expanding miscible drop in a rotating Hele‐Shaw cell

We perform a detailed numerical study for the evolution of an expanding miscible drop in a rotating Hele‐Shaw cell. Two mathematical formulations applied to model the coating layer expansion during practical spin‐coating process, such as thinning of the layer by cell pressing and drop spreading outward due to injection, are investigated. Including miscible interfacial stresses, we focus on the investigation of dynamical and morphological influences of two different stabilizing parameters: the gap width parameter for the pressing cell and the injecting strength. In the case of a pressing cell, the fingering features of the expanding miscible drop, such as the critical radius, are distinct from those ones in the experiments of spin coating due to the different distributions of the inherent radial velocity. On the other hand, the global interfacial evolutions of an expanding drop with an additional injection bear remarkable resemblances to their immiscible counterparts. The better agreement for an injecting model suggests its appropriateness when we simulate the emerging fingering instabilities in the spin‐coating process. Moreover, we investigate the effects of Coriolis force at higher miscible Bond numbers. Coriolis force affects significantly the onset of fingering instability and the tilting angles of fingers. These stable effects are in line with the results from the previous studies for miscible and immiscible flow fields. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical Simulations for Saltwater Intrusion by the Mixed Hybrid Finite Element Method and Discontinuous Finite Element Method

The proposed numerical code simulates the displacement of two miscible fluids through a saturated porous medium (2D configuration). Coupling between flow and transport is carried out by an equation of state. In the mixing zone, the density is assumed to vary as a function of concentration. The model uses a combination of the mixed hybrid finite element method and the discontinuous finite element method.Applied in its classical development, the mixed hybrid finite element method leads to a non-conservative formulation of the mass balance equation. However, one of the main reasons for using this technique is the ability to conserve mass cell-by-cell. Consequently, a new formulation that makes it possible to hold the conservative form of the continuity equation and so preserve the mass cell-wise is proposed. Although the pertinence of these approaches could have also been tested on other standard benchmarks, e.g., Elder's problem or salt dome problem, we have voluntarily limited ourselves to Henry's problem (1964). This choice was dictated by the possibility of a comparison with a semi-analytical solution. Contrary to previous numerical results, the comparison is made for the whole mixing zone. The very good agreement between our results and the semi-analytical solution shows the robustness and the efficiency of this approach for the seawater intrusion problems.     

Coupled model of coating formation on a cylindrical substrate

A coupled model of coating formation on the surface of a part of a cylindrical shape during deposition from the plasma is proposed. This model takes into account the phenomena of thermal diffusion, diffusive thermal conductivity, and mass transfer under the action of the stress gradient, and the formation of chemical compounds. The coating growth rate is considered to be a given function of the particle velocity and particle concentration near the surface of the growing coating. The problem is solved numerically. It is shown that diffusion cross-fluxes, diffusive thermal conductivity, and thermal diffusion during the growth process reduce the width of the transition zone between the substrate and the coating. This effect becomes most essential if the substrate has a low thermal conductivity. Accounting for stresses arising in the coating-substrate system during the deposition process changes the effective transfer coefficients and significantly affects the result of modeling the distribution of chemical elements and their compounds in the coating.     

Simulations of Microbial-Enhanced Oil Recovery: Adsorption and Filtration

In the context of microbial-enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) with injection of surfactant-producing bacteria into the reservoir, different types of bacteria attachment and growth scenarios are studied using a 1D simulator. The irreversible bacteria attachment due to filtration similar to the deep bed filtration (DBF) is examined along with the commonly used reversible equilibrium adsorption (REA). The characteristics of the two models are highlighted. The options for bacteria growth are the uniform growth in both phases and growth of attached bacteria only. It is found that uniform growth scenario applied to filtration model provides formation of two oil banks during recovery. This feature is not reproduced by application of REA model or DBF with growth in attached phase. This makes it possible to select a right model based on the qualitative analysis of the experimental data. A criterion is introduced to study the process efficiency: the dimensionless time at which average recovery between pure water injection and maximum surfactant effect is reached. This characteristic recovery period (CRP) was studied as a function of the different MEOR parameters such as bacterial activity, filtration coefficients, and substrate injection concentrations. For both growth scenarios, there is a zone of optimal activity at which the CRP is minimal. Dependence of the CRP on substrate concentration for uniform growth scenario has also an optimal zone. Therefore, growth rate and the substrate concentration should be above a certain threshold value and still not be too high to obtain the minimum CRP. On the other hand, no such zone was found if the bacteria could grow only in the attached phase. Dependencies on both the injected concentration and filtration coefficient are monotonous in this case.     

Chemical Compositions in Salinity Waterflooding of Carbonate Reservoirs: Theory

Higher oil recovery after waterflood in carbonate reservoirs is attributed to increasing water wettability of the rock that in turn relies on complicated surface chemistry. In addition, calcite mineral reacts with aqueous solutions and can alter substantially the composition of injected water by mineral dissolution. Carefully designed chemical and/or brine flood compositions in the laboratory may not remain intact while the injected solutions pass through the reactive reservoir rock. This is especially true for a low-salinity waterflood process, where some finely tuned brine compositions can improve flood performances, whereas others cannot. We present a 1D reactive transport numerical model that captures the changes in injected compositions during water flow through porous carbonate rock. We include highly coupled bulk aqueous and surface carbonate-reaction chemistry, detailed reaction and mass transfer kinetics, 2:1 calcium ion exchange, and axial dispersion. At typical calcite reaction rates, local equilibrium is established immediately upon injection. In SI, we validate the reactive transport model against analytic solutions for rock dissolution, ion exchange, and longitudinal dispersion, each considered separately. Accordingly, using an open-source algorithm (Charlton and Parkhurst in Comput Geosci 37(10):1653–1663, 2011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cageo.2011.02.005), we outline a design tool to specify chemical/brine flooding formulations that correct for composition alteration by the carbonate rock. Subsequent works compare proposed theory against experiments on core plugs of Indiana limestone and give examples of how injected salinity compositions deviate from those designed in the laboratory for water-wettability improvement.

     

致密砂岩垂直裂缝井CO2混相驱试井模型研究

向地层注入CO2可以有效地提高致密砂岩原油采收率,常规的试井解释数学模型不能满足致密砂岩无限导流垂直裂缝井CO2混相驱试井解释的需求．因此,基于渗流力学基本原理建立考虑应力敏感影响的无限导流垂直裂缝井CO2混相驱试井解释数学模型,利用Laplace变换、摄动变换和Stehfest数值反演的方法进行求解,编程绘制典型特征曲线并进行敏感性分析．研究表明：该模型典型特征曲线共划分为八个流动阶段．由于应力敏感效应的影响,径向流阶段内、外区压力导数曲线不再是0.5和0.5M13水平线,而是呈“上翘”的曲线,并且应力敏感系数越大,曲线“上翘”越明显;混相区压力导数曲线符合幂律型变化指数规律且高于(1-n)/(3-n)斜率直线;内区、混相区半径和M12的变化都会使得外区压力曲线升高;通过该模型可以有效地对致密砂岩压裂井CO2混相驱试井资料进行解释．     

Stabilization of propane combustion in a supersonic air flow using a nonequilibrium longitudinal discharge and a coaxial local low-pressure zone

The results of the experimental investigation of the flow in the vicinity of an electric-discharge module having a low aerodynamic drag and intended for igniting hydrocarbon fuel and stabilizing its burning in a supersonic flow at low initial static temperature and pressure are presented. The distinctive feature of the module is that the combustion zone is not attached to the combustion chamber walls. Due to a certain geometric connection between different regions of the module anode, an interference of shock and expansion waves occurs in its vicinity. This leads to the formation of a local longitudinal low-pressure zone behind the anode, the convergence of individual fuel jetlets injected through orifices in the anode in this zone, the formation precisely there of a longitudinal nonequilibrium discharge, and the intensification of fuel mixing and plasmochemical reactions. The gasdynamic features of supersonic flow past the module are numerically investigated. The dynamics of electrical discharge formation and the combustion zones thus formed are studied under particular conditions. The data on the stagnation temperature distribution in the discharge wake are obtained.     

Emulsion flow through a porous medium with allowance for interphase mass transfer between the components

A new model of the flow of two miscible, mutually-insoluble fluids in a porous medium with the formation of an emulsion and adsorption of the fluid components on the skeleton is proposed. The model takes into account the effect of interphase mass transfer on the emulsion dynamics and the active porosity. A continuous general solution of the one-dimensional model and the problem of breakdown of a discontinuity is constructed. The flow regimes generated in displacement problems which depend on the shape of the adsorption isotherms and the densities of the fluid components are considered. The time dependence of the production rate is constructed for frontal displacement regimes and for displacement regimes with the formation of a zone of mixing (Riemann wave) of the initial reservoir and injected fluids. These functions coincide, at least qualitatively, with the experimental data [1] indicating an initial increase in production rate even against a background of falling reservoir pressure, transition through a maximum, and subsequent decline. Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 77–88, January–February, 1997. The work was carried out with financial support from the Russian Foundation for Fundamental Research (project No. 96-01-00991).     

Efficiency of diffusion controlled miscible displacement in fractured porous media

Experiments were performed to study the diffusion process between matrix and fracture while there is flow in fracture. 2-inch diameter and 6-inch length Berea sandstone and Indiana limestone samples were cut cylindrically. An artificial fracture spanning between injection and production ends was created and the sample was coated with heat-shrinkable teflon tube. A miscible solvent (heptane) was injected from one end of the core saturated with oil at a constant rate. The effects of (a) oil type (mineral oil and kerosene), (b) injection rates, (c) orientation of the core, (d) matrix wettability, (e) core type (a sandstone and a limestone), and (f) amount of water in matrix on the oil recovery performance were examined. The process efficiency in terms of the time required for the recovery as well as the amount of solvent injected was also investigated. It is expected that the experimental results will be useful in deriving the matrix–fracture transfer function by diffusion that is controlled by the flow rate, matrix and fluid properties.     

WAG Displacements of Oil-Condensates Accounting for Hydrocarbon Ganglia

During two-phase flow in porous media, non-wetting phase is present simultaneously in states of mobile connected continuum and of trapped isolated ganglia. Mass exchange between these two parts of non-wetting phase is going on by dissolution and diffusion of component in the wetting phase, so, compositions of non-wetting phase in both parts are different. Nevertheless, the traditional mathematical model for two-phase multicomponent transport in porous media assumes the homogeneous distribution of each component in the overall non-wetting phase. New governing equations honouring ganglia of non-wetting phase are derived. They are successfully verified by a number of laboratory tests. Analytical model is developed for miscible water-alternate-gas (WAG) displacement of oil-condensates. The modelling shows that the significant amount of oil-condensate is left in porous media after miscible WAG, while the traditional model predicts that the miscible displacement results in the total sweep.     

A critical review of dispersion in packed beds

The phenomenon of dispersion (transverse and longitudinal) in packed beds is summarized and reviewed for a great deal of information from the literature. Dispersion plays an important part, for example, in contaminant transport in ground water flows, in miscible displacement of oil and gas and in reactant and product transport in packed bed reactors. There are several variables that must be considered, in the analysis of dispersion in packed beds, like the length of the packed column, viscosity and density of the fluid, ratio of column diameter to particle diameter, ratio of column length to particle diameter, particle size distribution, particle shape, effect of fluid velocity and effect of temperature (or Schmidt number). Empirical correlations are presented for the prediction of the dispersion coefficients (D _T and D _L) over the entire range of practical values of Sc and Pe_m, and works on transverse and longitudinal dispersion of non-Newtonian fluids in packed beds are also considered.