The influence of porous medium characteristics and measurement scale on pore-scale distributions of residual nonaqueous-phase liquids

Mayer, Alex; Miller, Cass T.

doi:10.1016/0169-7722(92)90017-9

Cited by 119 publications

(86 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Because the SIP algorithm will always fill the smallest aperture along an interface first, it results in smaller and disconnected blobs as the original blab dissolves and breaks up. Note that the measured blob volumes for this experiment range over more than 3 orders of magnitude, in contrast to blob volume measurements in a homogeneous porous media [Mayer and Miller, 1992], which ranged over -2 orders of magnitude. As with previous measurements in porous media, the experimentally measured blob-volume distributions are approximately lognormally distributed at each saturation.…”

Section: Comparison Of Dissolution Simulation To Experimentscontrasting

confidence: 63%

“…Several researchers have demonstrated that for wellsorted sands, NAPL blobs are mostly "singlets" (i.e., they occupy a single pore body) [e.g., Larson et al, 1981;Conrad et al, 1992]. Subsequent investigations observed that the range of NAPL blab sizes increases with grain-size variability [Mayer and Miller, 1992;Powers et al, 1992] and Bond number (Bn = buoyancy/capillary forces) [Mayer and Miller, 1992]. In fractures, Bn depends not only on the difference in densities between NAPL and water, but also on the orientation of the fracture plane.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nonaqueous‐phase‐liquid dissolution in variable‐aperture fractures: Development of a depth‐averaged computational model with comparison to a physical experiment

Detwiler¹,

Rajaram²,

Glass³

2001

Water Resources Research

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Abstract. Dissolution of nonaqueous-phase liquids (NAPLs) from variable-aperture fractures couples fluid flow, transport of the dissolved NAPL, interphase mass transfer, and the corresponding NAPL-water-interface movement. Each of these fundamental processes is controlled by fracture-aperture variability and entrapped-NAPL geometry. We develop a depth-averaged computational model of dissolution that incorporates the fundamental processes that control dissolution at spatial resolutions that include all scales of variability within the flow field. Thus this model does not require empirical descriptions of local mass transfer rates. Furthermore, the depth-averaged approach allows us to simulate dissolution at scales that are larger than the scale of the largest entrapped NAPL blobs. We compare simulation results with an experiment in which we dissolved residual entrapped trichloroethylene (TCE) from a 15.4 x 30.3 cm, analog, variable-aperture fracture. We measured both fracture aperture and the TCE distribution within the fracture at high spatial resolution using light transmission techniques. Digital images acquired over the duration of the experiment recorded the evolution of the TCE distribution within the fracture and are directly compared with the results of a computational simulation. The evolution with time of the distribution of the entrapped TCE and the total TCE saturation are both predicted well by the dissolution model. These results suggest that detailed parametric studies, employing the depth-averaged dissolution model, can be used to develop a comprehensive understanding of NAPL dissolution in terms of parameters characterizing aperture variability, phase structure, and hydrodynamic conditions.

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Section: Comparison Of Dissolution Simulation To Experimentscontrasting

confidence: 63%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonaqueous‐phase‐liquid dissolution in variable‐aperture fractures: Development of a depth‐averaged computational model with comparison to a physical experiment

Detwiler¹,

Rajaram²,

Glass³

2001

Water Resources Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…For example, in multiphase flow, the nonwetting phase may be trapped if it is completely surrounded by the wetting fluid and in this case, no further displacement is possible in a capillarity-controlled displacement. These isolated nonwetting blobs are at residual saturation and their size distribution and shape can have significant effects on fate and transport of dissolved pollutants (Mayer and Miller 1992;Reeves and Celia 1996;Dillard and Blunt 2000). The nonwetting blobs assume shapes that are influenced by the pore geometry and topology (e.g., aspect ratio, connectivity, and pore-size variability) and their size can range over several orders of magnitude.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A New Method for Generating Pore-Network Models of Porous Media

2009

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In this study, we have developed a new method to generate a multi-directional pore network for representing a porous medium. The method is based on a regular cubic lattice network, which has two elements: pore bodies located at the regular lattice points and pore throats connecting the pore bodies. One of the main features of our network is that pore throats can be oriented in 13 different directions, allowing a maximum coordination number of 26 that is possible in a regular lattice in 3D space. The coordination number of pore bodies ranges from 0 to 26, with a pre-specified average value for the whole network. We have applied this method to reconstruct real sandstone and granular sand samples through utilizing information on their coordination number distributions. Good agreement was found between simulation results and observation data on coordination number distribution and other network properties, such as number of pore bodies and pore throats and average coordination number. Our method can be especially useful in studying the effect of structure and coordination number distribution of pore networks on transport and multiphase flow in porous media systems.

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“…Raoof and Hassanizadeh (2010) developed a semi-regular multi-directional network, with a maximum coordination number of 26, to study the effect of the network structure on transport in porous media [16]. Many researchers have studied the relationship between the pore structure and the flow, electric or magnetic properties [17][18][19][20]. Due to the heterogeneity of porous media, a general regulation is difficult to obtain when studying a specific real core sample.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of the Pore Size Distribution on the Displacement Efficiency of Multiphase Flow in Porous Media

et al. 2016

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Due to the complexity of porous media, it is difficult to use traditional experimental methods to study the quantitative impact of the pore size distribution on multiphase flow. In this paper, the impact of two pore distribution function types for three-phase flow was quantitatively investigated based on a three-dimensional pore-scale network model. The results show that in the process of wetting phase displacing the non-wetting phase without wetting films or spreading layers, the displacement efficiency was enhanced with the increase of the two function distribution's parameters, which are the power law exponent in the power law distribution and the average pore radius or standard deviation in the truncated normal distribution, and vice versa. Additionally, the formation of wetting film is better for the process of displacement.

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The influence of porous medium characteristics and measurement scale on pore-scale distributions of residual nonaqueous-phase liquids

Cited by 119 publications

References 12 publications

Nonaqueous‐phase‐liquid dissolution in variable‐aperture fractures: Development of a depth‐averaged computational model with comparison to a physical experiment

Nonaqueous‐phase‐liquid dissolution in variable‐aperture fractures: Development of a depth‐averaged computational model with comparison to a physical experiment

A New Method for Generating Pore-Network Models of Porous Media

Effect of the Pore Size Distribution on the Displacement Efficiency of Multiphase Flow in Porous Media

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