Investigation of Breakthrough Curves in Porous Media with a Crack
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21152/1750-9548.15.4.363Abstract
Fractured porous media provide an important topic in particular for geologists and for material scientists. Many researchers are concerned with fluid flow. Here we extend the research studies by focussing on transport processes. In order to understand the effect on the micro-scale we examine details of a porous medium with a single fracture, a crack. By numerical experiments using finite element simulations we investigate the effect of crack characteristics on the overall behaviour of the combined flow and transport matrix-crack system that is observed in breakthrough curves. We deal with open cracks and with highly permeable fractures, varying their conductivity in relation to the porous medium conductivity. We also vary the crack orientation relative to the flow direction, and the crack aperture. Aside from the differences between the simulated scenarios, the results show that there is an increased diffusivity with the overall permeability of the system. While the front breakthrough appears earlier for higher permeable cracks, transport in low flow regions is slowed down. As a result, pockets of the replaced fluid remain longer within the system. The latter result can have important implications in application cases.
References
Sahimi, M., Flow and Transport in Porous Media and Fractured Rock: From Classical Methods to Modern Approaches 2011. Wiley & Sons, Hoboken. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9783527636693
Adler, P.M., Thovert, J.-F., Mourzenko, V.V., Fractured Porous Media 2013. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Characterization, Modeling, Monitoring, and Remediation of Fractured Rock 2015. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC.
Lui, R., Jiang, Y., Special issue: fluid flow in fractured porous media, Processes 2018. 6, 178, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/pr6100178
Peacock, D.C.P., Nixon, C.W., Rotevatn, A., Sanderson, D.J., Zulaga, L.F., Glossary of fault and other crack network, Journal of Structural Geology 2016. 92, 12-29. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsg.2016.09.008
Berkowitz, B., Characterizing flow and transport in fractured geological media: a review, Advances in Water Resources 2002. 25, 861–884, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0309-1708(02)00042-8
Bodin, J., Delay, F., de Marsily, G., Solute transport in a single fracture with negligible matrix permeability: 1. fundamental mechanisms, Hydrogeology Journal 2003. 11, 418–433, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-003-0268-2
Bodin, J., Delay, F., de Marsily, G., Solute transport in a single fracture with negligible matrix permeability: 2. Mathematical formalism, Hydrogeology Journal 2003. 11, 434–454, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-003-0269-1
Mahmoudzadeh, B., Liu, L., Moreno, L., Neretnieks, I., Solute transport in fractured rocks with stagnant water zone and rock matrix composed of different geological layers – model development and simulations, Water Resources Research 2013. 49, 1709–1727, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/wrcr.20132
Mahmoudzadeh, R., Solute Transport through Fractured Rocks: the Influence of Geological Heterogeneities and stagnant Water Zones, Doctorate Thesis 2016. Royal Inst. of Technology, Stockholm, ISBN 978-91-7595-906-1
Perko, J., Seetharam, S.C., Jacques, D., Mallants, D., Cool, W., Vermarien, E., Influence of cracks in cementitious engineered barriers in a near-surface disposal system: assessment analysis of the Belgian case, 15th Int. Conf. on Env. Remediation and Radioactive Waste Management (ICEM2013) 2013. Paper ICEM2013-96226.
Seetharam, S.C., Perko, J., Jacques, D., Mallants, D., Influence of fracture networks on radionuclide transport from solidified waste forms, Nuclear Engineering and Design 2014. 270, 162–175, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nucengdes.2013.12.048
Perko, J., Seetharam, S., Mallants, D., Verification and validation of flow and transport in cracked saturated porous media, COMSOL Conf. 2011, Stuttgart.
Hull, L.C., Clemo, T.M., Dual-permeability model: laboratory and FRACSL validation studies, in: Geothermal Injection Technology Program Annual Progress Report FY-86,
EGG-2511, 1987. Idaho National Engineering, Laboratory, Idaho Falls.
Bagalkot, N., Kumar, G.S., Thermal front propagation in variable aperturefracture–matrix system: A numerical study, Sādhanā 2015. 40(2), 605-622.
Pastore, N., Cherubini, C., Giasi, C.I., Allegretti, N.M., Redondo, J.M., Tarquis, A.M., Experimental study of heat transport in fractured network, Energy Procedia 2015. 76, 273-281, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2015.07.860
Jacquey, A.B., Cacace, M., Blöcher, G., Modelling coupled fluid flow and heat transfer in fractured reservoirs: description of a 3D benchmark numerical case, Energy Procedia 2017. 125, 612-621, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2017.08.227
Jarrahi, M., Moore, K.R., Holländer, H.M., Comparison of solute/heat transport in fractured formations using discrete fracture and equivalent porous media modeling at the reservoir scale, Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 2019. 113, 19-21, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pce.2019.08.001
Gisladottir, V. R., Roubinet, D., Tartakovsky, D.M., Particle methods for heat transfer in fractured media, Transport in Porous Media 2016. 115(2), 31-16, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-016-0755-2
Berre, I., Doster, F. Keilegavlen, E., Flow in fractured porous media: a review of conceptual models and discretization approaches, Transport in Porous Media 2019, 130, 215-236, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-018-1171-6
Natarajan, N., Kumar, S., Numerical modeling of solute transport in a coupled sinusoidal fracture matrix system in the presence of fracture skin, Int. Journal of Energy and Environment 2010. 4(4).
Brinkman, H.C., A calculation of the viscous force exerted by a flowing fluid on a dense swarm of particles, Appl. Sci. Res. A1 1947, 27-34.
Guyon, E., Hulin, J-P., Petit, L., Hydrodynamik 1997. vieweg, Braunschweig, ISBN 978-3-322-89831-9
Holzbecher, E., Convective Transport through Porous Layers, Int. Journal of Multiphysics 2020. 14(1), 53-67.
Holzbecher, E., Wong, L., Litz, M.-S., Modelling flow through cracks in porous media, COMSOL Conf. 2010, Paris.
Romano-Perez, C.A., Diaz-Viera, M.A., A comparison of discrete crack models for single phase flow in porous media by COMSOL Multiphysics® software, COMSOL Conf. 2015, Boston.
Lugo-Mendez, H.D., Valdes-Parada, F.J., Porter, M.L., Wood, B.D., Ochoa-Tapia, J.A., Upscaling diffusion and nonlinear reactive mass transport in homogeneous porous media, Transport in Porous Media 2015. 107, 683–716, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-015-0462-42015
Rivard, C., Delay, F., Simulations of solute transport in fractured porous media using 2D percolation networks with uncorrelated hydraulic conductivity fields, Hydrogeology Journal 2004. 12, 613-627, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10040-004-0363-z
Holzbecher, E., Statistics of numerical experiments with multi-crack systems, COMSOL Conf. 2020, Boston.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2021 E Holzbecher
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.