Assessing Rheology Effects and Pore Space Complexity in Polymer Flow Through Porous Media: A Pore‐Scale Simulation Study
Abstract Non‐Newtonian fluid flow within porous media, exemplified by polymer remediation of contaminated groundwater/aquifer systems, presents complex challenges due to the fluids' complex rheological behavior within 3D tortuous pore structures. This paper introduces a pore‐scale flow simulato...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2024-05-01
|
| Series: | Water Resources Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR036125 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849422772601618432 |
|---|---|
| author | Mehdi Amiri Jafar Qajar Ali Q. Raeini Amir Raoof |
| author_facet | Mehdi Amiri Jafar Qajar Ali Q. Raeini Amir Raoof |
| author_sort | Mehdi Amiri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Non‐Newtonian fluid flow within porous media, exemplified by polymer remediation of contaminated groundwater/aquifer systems, presents complex challenges due to the fluids' complex rheological behavior within 3D tortuous pore structures. This paper introduces a pore‐scale flow simulator based on the OpenFOAM open‐source library, designed to model shear‐thinning flow within porous media. Leveraging this developed solver, extensive pore‐scale flow simulations were conducted on μ‐CT images of various real and synthetic porous media with varying complexity for both power‐law and Cross‐fluid models. We focused on the macroscale‐averaged deviation between bulk viscosity and the in‐situ viscosity, commonly denoted by a shift factor. We provided an in‐depth evaluation of the shift factor's dependency on the fluid's rheological attributes and the rock's pore space complexity. The least‐squares fitted values of the shift factor fell in the range of 1.6–9.5. Notably, the most pronounced shift factor emerged for extreme flow behavior indices. Our findings highlight not just the critical role of rheological parameters, but also demonstrate how the shift factor fluctuates based on tortuosity, characteristic pore length, and the cementation exponent. In particular, less porous/permeable systems with smaller characteristic pore lengths exhibited larger shift factors due to higher variations of shear rate and local viscosity in narrower flow paths. Additionally, the shift factor increased as rock became more tortuous and heterogeneous. The introduced pore‐scale simulation proves instrumental in determining the macroscopic averaged shift factor. This, in consequence, is vital for precise computations of viscosity and pressure drop when dealing with non‐Newtonian fluid flow in porous media. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e60f8baeeda54fff84f3c0c5942413c4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0043-1397 1944-7973 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-05-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water Resources Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-e60f8baeeda54fff84f3c0c5942413c42025-08-20T03:30:56ZengWileyWater Resources Research0043-13971944-79732024-05-01605n/an/a10.1029/2023WR036125Assessing Rheology Effects and Pore Space Complexity in Polymer Flow Through Porous Media: A Pore‐Scale Simulation StudyMehdi Amiri0Jafar Qajar1Ali Q. Raeini2Amir Raoof3Department of Petroleum Engineering School of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Shiraz University Shiraz IranDepartment of Petroleum Engineering School of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Shiraz University Shiraz IranDepartment of Earth Science and Engineering Imperial College London London UKDepartment of Earth Sciences Faculty of Geosciences Utrecht University Utrecht The NetherlandsAbstract Non‐Newtonian fluid flow within porous media, exemplified by polymer remediation of contaminated groundwater/aquifer systems, presents complex challenges due to the fluids' complex rheological behavior within 3D tortuous pore structures. This paper introduces a pore‐scale flow simulator based on the OpenFOAM open‐source library, designed to model shear‐thinning flow within porous media. Leveraging this developed solver, extensive pore‐scale flow simulations were conducted on μ‐CT images of various real and synthetic porous media with varying complexity for both power‐law and Cross‐fluid models. We focused on the macroscale‐averaged deviation between bulk viscosity and the in‐situ viscosity, commonly denoted by a shift factor. We provided an in‐depth evaluation of the shift factor's dependency on the fluid's rheological attributes and the rock's pore space complexity. The least‐squares fitted values of the shift factor fell in the range of 1.6–9.5. Notably, the most pronounced shift factor emerged for extreme flow behavior indices. Our findings highlight not just the critical role of rheological parameters, but also demonstrate how the shift factor fluctuates based on tortuosity, characteristic pore length, and the cementation exponent. In particular, less porous/permeable systems with smaller characteristic pore lengths exhibited larger shift factors due to higher variations of shear rate and local viscosity in narrower flow paths. Additionally, the shift factor increased as rock became more tortuous and heterogeneous. The introduced pore‐scale simulation proves instrumental in determining the macroscopic averaged shift factor. This, in consequence, is vital for precise computations of viscosity and pressure drop when dealing with non‐Newtonian fluid flow in porous media.https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR036125pore‐scale flow simulationnon‐Newtonian flowporous medium viscosityshift factorflow behavior indexpore space |
| spellingShingle | Mehdi Amiri Jafar Qajar Ali Q. Raeini Amir Raoof Assessing Rheology Effects and Pore Space Complexity in Polymer Flow Through Porous Media: A Pore‐Scale Simulation Study Water Resources Research pore‐scale flow simulation non‐Newtonian flow porous medium viscosity shift factor flow behavior index pore space |
| title | Assessing Rheology Effects and Pore Space Complexity in Polymer Flow Through Porous Media: A Pore‐Scale Simulation Study |
| title_full | Assessing Rheology Effects and Pore Space Complexity in Polymer Flow Through Porous Media: A Pore‐Scale Simulation Study |
| title_fullStr | Assessing Rheology Effects and Pore Space Complexity in Polymer Flow Through Porous Media: A Pore‐Scale Simulation Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing Rheology Effects and Pore Space Complexity in Polymer Flow Through Porous Media: A Pore‐Scale Simulation Study |
| title_short | Assessing Rheology Effects and Pore Space Complexity in Polymer Flow Through Porous Media: A Pore‐Scale Simulation Study |
| title_sort | assessing rheology effects and pore space complexity in polymer flow through porous media a pore scale simulation study |
| topic | pore‐scale flow simulation non‐Newtonian flow porous medium viscosity shift factor flow behavior index pore space |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2023WR036125 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mehdiamiri assessingrheologyeffectsandporespacecomplexityinpolymerflowthroughporousmediaaporescalesimulationstudy AT jafarqajar assessingrheologyeffectsandporespacecomplexityinpolymerflowthroughporousmediaaporescalesimulationstudy AT aliqraeini assessingrheologyeffectsandporespacecomplexityinpolymerflowthroughporousmediaaporescalesimulationstudy AT amirraoof assessingrheologyeffectsandporespacecomplexityinpolymerflowthroughporousmediaaporescalesimulationstudy |