Hydraulic Approach to Transport in Aquifers

In Chaps. 4 through 7, we have discussed the complete mathematical statement of problems involving the transport of a single fluid phase, of a multiphase fluid system, of a component, or a multi-component system, and of heat, in a porous medium domain of any arbitrary shape. Usually, we had in mind a three-dimensional domain. In the present chapter, we discuss transport phenomena in a domain that has a special shape, viz., a thin domain. Such a domain has the shape of a thin slab, in which one dimension, referred to as thickness, is much smaller than the other two. An aquifer, which is a porous geological formation that contains and transmits groundwater, and an oil reservoir, may serve as examples. For the sake of making the presentation more practical, we shall present the methodology proposed in this chapter by applying it to the former example, namely, that of an aquifer.