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Physical Review Fluids
Article . 2021 . Peer-reviewed
License: APS Licenses for Journal Article Re-use
Data sources: Crossref
https://dx.doi.org/10.48550/ar...
Article . 2021
License: arXiv Non-Exclusive Distribution
Data sources: Datacite
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Forced imbibition in stratified porous media: Fluid dynamics and breakthrough saturation

Authors: Nancy B. Lu; Daniel B. Amchin; Sujit S. Datta;

Forced imbibition in stratified porous media: Fluid dynamics and breakthrough saturation

Abstract

Imbibition, the displacement of a nonwetting fluid by a wetting fluid, plays a central role in diverse energy, environmental, and industrial processes. While this process is typically studied in homogeneous porous media with uniform permeabilities, in many cases, the media have multiple parallel strata of different permeabilities. How such stratification impacts the fluid dynamics of imbibition, as well as the fluid saturation after the wetting fluid breaks through to the end of a given medium, is poorly understood. We address this gap in knowledge by developing an analytical model of imbibition in a porous medium with two parallel strata, combined with a pore network model that explicitly describes fluid crossflow between the strata. By numerically solving these models, we examine the fluid dynamics and fluid saturation left after breakthrough. We find that the breakthrough saturation of nonwetting fluid is minimized when the imposed capillary number Ca is tuned to a value Ca$^*$ that depends on both the structure of the medium and the viscosity ratio between the two fluids. Our results thus provide quantitative guidelines for predicting and controlling flow in stratified porous media, with implications for water remediation, oil/gas recovery, and applications requiring moisture management in diverse materials.

Related Organizations
Keywords

Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn), Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft), FOS: Physical sciences, Physics - Fluid Dynamics, Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn), Condensed Matter - Disordered Systems and Neural Networks, Condensed Matter - Soft Condensed Matter

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    popularity
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    influence
    This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
2
Average
Average
Average
Green
bronze