Viscous transport in eroding porous media

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2020

Abstract

Transport of viscous fluid through porous media is a direct consequence of the pore structure. Here we investigate transport through a specific class of two-dimensional porous geometries, namely those formed by fluid-mechanical erosion. We investigate the tortuosity and dispersion by analyzing the first two statistical moments of tracer trajectories. For most initial configurations, tortuosity decreases in time as a result of erosion increasing the porosity. However, we find that tortuosity can also increase transiently in certain cases. The porosity-tortuosity relationships that result from our simulations are compared with models available in the literature. Asymptotic dispersion rates are also strongly affected by the erosion process, as well as by the number and distribution of the eroding bodies. Finally, we analyze the pore size distribution of an eroding geometry. The simulations are performed by combining a boundary integral equation solver for the fluid equations, a second-order stable time-stepping method to simulate erosion, and high-order numerical methods to stably and accurately resolve nearly touching eroded bodies and particle trajectories near the eroding bodies.

Identifier

85083641463 (Scopus)

Publication Title

Journal of Fluid Mechanics

External Full Text Location

https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2020.228

e-ISSN

14697645

ISSN

00221120

Volume

893

Grant

524259

Fund Ref

Florida State University

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