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Numerical assessment of 3D macrodispersion in heterogeneous porous media

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2014

A. Beaudoin  and
J. R. De Dreuzy
A. Beaudoin*
Affiliation:
Institute P’, University of Poitiers, France
J. R. De Dreuzy
Affiliation:
Institute of Environmental Analysis and Water Studies, Barcelona, Spain Géosciences, University of Rennes, France
*
a Corresponding author:anthony.beaudoin@univ-poitiers.fr
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Abstract

Hydrodynamic dispersion is a key controlling factor of solute transport in heterogeneousporous media. It critically depends on dimensionality. The asymptotic macrodispersion,transverse to the mean velocity direction, vanishes only in 2D and not in 3D. Using theclassical Gaussian correlated permeability fields with a lognormal distribution ofvariance σY2, thelongitudinal and transverse dispersivities are determined numerically as a function ofheterogeneity and dimensionality. We show that the transverse macrodispersion steeplyincreases with σY2 underlyingthe essential role of flow lines braiding, a mechanism specific to 3D systems. Thetransverse macrodispersion remains however at least two orders of magnitude smaller thanthe longitudinal macrodispersion, which increases even more steeply withσY2. At moderateto high levels of heterogeneity, the transverse macrodispersion also converges much fasterto its asymptotic regime than do the longitudinal macrodispersion. Braiding cannot be thustaken as the sole mechanism responsible for the high longitudinal macrodispersions. Itcould be either supplemented or superseded by stronger velocity correlations in 3D than in2D. This assumption is supported by the much larger longitudinal macrodispersions obtainedin 3D than in 2D, up to a factor of 7 for σY2 = 7.56.

Keywords

parallel computingtransport equationpure advectionheterogeneous media3d macrodispersion
Type
Research Article
Information
Mechanics & Industry , Volume 14 , Issue 6 , 2013 , pp. 461 - 464
Copyright
© AFM, EDP Sciences 2014

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