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Lagrangian simulations of unstable gravity-driven flow of fluids with variable density in randomly heterogeneous porous media

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Abstract

A new Lagrangian particle model based on smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is developed and used to simulate Darcy scale flow and transport in porous media. The method has excellent conservation properties and treats advection exactly. The Lagrangian method is used in stochastic analysis of miscible density-driven fluid flows. Results show that heterogeneity significantly increases dispersion and slows development of Rayleigh–Taylor instability. The presented numerical examples illustrate the advantages of Lagrangian methods for stochastic transport simulations.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC05-76RL01830.

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  1. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA

    A. M. Tartakovsky

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  1. A. M. Tartakovsky
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Correspondence to A. M. Tartakovsky.

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Tartakovsky, A.M. Lagrangian simulations of unstable gravity-driven flow of fluids with variable density in randomly heterogeneous porous media. Stoch Environ Res Risk Assess 24, 993–1002 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00477-010-0402-3

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