Multiple numerical approaches have been developed to simulate porous media fluid flow and solute transport at the pore scale. These include methods that 1) explicitly model the three-dimensional geometry of pore spaces and 2) those that conceptualize the pore space as a topologically consistent set of stylized pore bodies and pore throats. In previous work we validated a model of class 1, based on direct numerical simulation using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes, against magnetic resonance velocimetry (MRV) measurements of pore-scale velocities. Here we expand that validation to include additional models of class 1 based on the immersed-boundary method (IMB), lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), as well as a model of class 2 (a pore-network model or PNM). The PNM approach used in the current study was recently improved and demonstrated to accurately simulate solute transport in a two-dimensional experiment. While the PNM approach is computationally much less demanding than direct numerical simulation methods, the effect of conceptualizing complex three-dimensional pore geometries on solute transport in the manner of PNMs has not been fully determined. We apply all four approaches (CFD, LBM, SPH and PNM) to simulate pore-scale velocity distributions and nonreactive solute transport, and intercompare the model results with previously reported experimental observations. Experimental observations are limited to measured pore-scale velocities, so solute transport comparisons are made only among the various models. Comparisons are drawn both in terms of macroscopic variables (e.g., permeability, solute breakthrough curves) and microscopic variables (e.g., local velocities and concentrations).
Yang, Xiaofan, et al. "Intercomparison of 3D pore-scale flow and solute transport simulation methods." Advances in Water Resources, vol. 95, Sep. 2016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2015.09.015
Yang, Xiaofan, Mehmani, Yashar, Perkins, William A., Pasquali, Andrea, Schönherr, Martin, Kim, Kyungjoo, Perego, Mauro, Parks, Michael L., Trask, Nathaniel, Balhoff, Matthew T., Richmond, Marshall C., Geier, Martin, Krafczyk, Manfred, Luo, Li-Shi, Tartakovsky, Alexandre M., & Scheibe, Timothy D. (2016). Intercomparison of 3D pore-scale flow and solute transport simulation methods. Advances in Water Resources, 95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2015.09.015
Yang, Xiaofan, Mehmani, Yashar, Perkins, William A., et al., "Intercomparison of 3D pore-scale flow and solute transport simulation methods," Advances in Water Resources 95 (2016), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2015.09.015
@article{osti_1356517,
author = {Yang, Xiaofan and Mehmani, Yashar and Perkins, William A. and Pasquali, Andrea and Schönherr, Martin and Kim, Kyungjoo and Perego, Mauro and Parks, Michael L. and Trask, Nathaniel and Balhoff, Matthew T. and others},
title = {Intercomparison of 3D pore-scale flow and solute transport simulation methods},
annote = {Multiple numerical approaches have been developed to simulate porous media fluid flow and solute transport at the pore scale. These include methods that 1) explicitly model the three-dimensional geometry of pore spaces and 2) those that conceptualize the pore space as a topologically consistent set of stylized pore bodies and pore throats. In previous work we validated a model of class 1, based on direct numerical simulation using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes, against magnetic resonance velocimetry (MRV) measurements of pore-scale velocities. Here we expand that validation to include additional models of class 1 based on the immersed-boundary method (IMB), lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH), as well as a model of class 2 (a pore-network model or PNM). The PNM approach used in the current study was recently improved and demonstrated to accurately simulate solute transport in a two-dimensional experiment. While the PNM approach is computationally much less demanding than direct numerical simulation methods, the effect of conceptualizing complex three-dimensional pore geometries on solute transport in the manner of PNMs has not been fully determined. We apply all four approaches (CFD, LBM, SPH and PNM) to simulate pore-scale velocity distributions and nonreactive solute transport, and intercompare the model results with previously reported experimental observations. Experimental observations are limited to measured pore-scale velocities, so solute transport comparisons are made only among the various models. Comparisons are drawn both in terms of macroscopic variables (e.g., permeability, solute breakthrough curves) and microscopic variables (e.g., local velocities and concentrations).},
doi = {10.1016/j.advwatres.2015.09.015},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1356517},
journal = {Advances in Water Resources},
issn = {ISSN 0309-1708},
volume = {95},
place = {United States},
publisher = {Elsevier},
year = {2016},
month = {09}}
Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRC) (United States). Center for Frontiers of Subsurface Energy Security (CFSES); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (US)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1356517
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-109346; KP1702030; KJ0401000
Journal Information:
Advances in Water Resources, Journal Name: Advances in Water Resources Vol. 95; ISSN 0309-1708
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 360, Issue 1792https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2001.0955
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, Vol. 360, Issue 1792https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2001.0951