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Dynamic capillary effects in heterogeneous porous media

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Abstract

In standard multi-phase flow models on porous media, a capillary pressure saturation relationship developed under static conditions is assumed. Recent experiments have shown that this static relationship cannot explain dynamic effects as seen for example in outflow experiments. In this paper, we use a static capillary pressure model and a dynamic capillary pressure model based on the concept of Hassanizadeh and Gray and examine the behavior with respect to material interfaces. We introduce a new numerical scheme for the one-dimensional case using a Lagrange multiplier approach and develop a suitable interface condition. The behavior at the interface is discussed and verified by various numerical simulations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IWS, Department of Hydromechanics and Modeling of Hydrosystems, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 61, 70529, Stuttgart, Germany

    Rainer Helmig

  2. Institute of Applied Analysis and Numerical Simulations (IANS), Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70529, Stuttgart, Germany

    Alexander Weiss & Barbara I. Wohlmuth

Authors
  1. Rainer Helmig
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  2. Alexander Weiss
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  3. Barbara I. Wohlmuth
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Correspondence to Alexander Weiss.

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Helmig, R., Weiss, A. & Wohlmuth, B.I. Dynamic capillary effects in heterogeneous porous media. Comput Geosci 11, 261–274 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10596-007-9050-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10596-007-9050-1

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