Drying and percolation in correlated porous media

Biswas, Soumyajyoti; Fantinel, Paolo; Borgman, Oshri; Holtzman, Ran; Goehring, Lucas

doi:10.1103/physrevfluids.3.124307

Cited by 20 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…In both cases, the power law exponent does not change as the fracture aperture changes from first contact case to the highly stressed case. Our expectation for = 2 exponent is due to (1) the theoretical results for SOC processes (Maslov, 1995), (2) the fact that a similar exponent is observed for porous media displacements (Aker et al, 2000;Biswas et al, 2018;Furuberg et al, 1996), and most importantly (3) the fact that this is the exponent observed for purely random fractures with no spatial correlation in the fracture gap ( Figure 2). The fact that the distribution of avalanche sizes for IP without in-plane curvature deviates from the theoretical power law with exponent = 2 (Figure 3c) suggests that it lacks the necessary physics to properly model the invasion process through a self-affine rough fracture.…”

Section: 1029/2019gl082744mentioning

confidence: 55%

“…Measurements of P c during slow drainage through porous media are reported routinely (Biswas et al, 2018;Furuberg et al, 1996;Måløy et al, 1992;Moebius & Or, 2014;Moura et al, 2015Moura et al, , 2017Ramstad & Hansen, 2006). However, to the best of our knowledge, P c measurements during slow drainage through a rough fracture, for a flow rate controlled boundary condition, have only been reported in the pioneer experimental work of Persoff and Pruess (1995).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To further validate the P c records from our numerical simulations, we use well-established scaling laws for the occurrence of hierarchical forward avalanches, N f (S f ), which have been employed to characterize drainage in porous media (Aker et al, 2000;Biswas et al, 2018;Furuberg et al, 1996;Maslov, 1995) (Figures 2c and 2d). The scaling behavior of N f (S f ) is valid for a broad class of models that are known to self-organize in critical states (self-organized criticality model), such as IP in porous media (Maslov, 1995;Paczuski et al, 1996), landslide and forest fire occurrence (Turcotte et al, 2002), and earthquake Behavior of capillary pressure (P c ) for invasion percolation (IP) models with and without in-plane curvature and for self-affine fracture surfaces at two different confining stresses.…”

Section: Capillary Pressure Behavior In a Random Fracturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This flow regime has a number of important practical applications, such as geological CO 2 storage (Pruess, 2008), underground nuclear waste disposal (Nuske et al, 2010), and secondary oil migration (Meakin et al, 1992). During slow drainage in porous media, the invasion process is marked by intermittency with bursts of fluid invasion, or avalanches, in which capillary pressure fluctuates rapidly, followed by quiescent periods with no interface motion (Berg et al, 2013;Biswas et al, 2018;Furuberg et al, 1996;Haines, 1930;Måløy et al, 1992;Moebius & Or, 2014). Experiments and numerical simulations have shown that these rapid capillary pressure fluctuations depend on the degree of organization of the porous medium (Biswas et al, 2018;Moura et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Measurements and simulations of capillary pressure (P c ) during slow drainage have been extensively reported for the case of imposed flow rate in porous media (Aker et al, 2000;Biswas et al, 2018;Furuberg et al, 1996;Måløy et al, 1992;Moebius & Or, 2014;Moura et al, 2015Moura et al, , 2017. Similar measurements for a rough fracture are scarce.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of Confining Stress on Capillary Pressure Behavior During Drainage Through Rough Fractures

Silva

Kang

Yang

et al. 2019

Geophysical Research Letters

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We study, numerically, the behavior of capillary pressure (Pc) during slow immiscible displacement in a rough fracture as a function of the degree of fracture aperture heterogeneity that results from two distinct mechanisms: normal confining stress and fracture surface correlation. We generate synthetic self‐affine rough fractures at different correlation scales, solve the elastic contact problem to model the effect of confining stress, and simulate slow immiscible displacement of a wetting fluid by a nonwetting one using a modified invasion percolation model that accounts for in‐plane curvature of the fluid‐fluid interface. Our modeling results indicate that the power spectral density, S(f), of Pc, can be used to qualitatively characterize fracture aperture heterogeneity. We show that the distribution of forward avalanche sizes follows a power law Nffalse(Sffalse)∝Sf−α, with exponent α=2, in agreement with previously reported values for porous media and equal to the expected theoretical exponent for a self‐organized criticality process.

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Section: 1029/2019gl082744mentioning

confidence: 55%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Capillary Pressure Behavior In a Random Fracturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of Confining Stress on Capillary Pressure Behavior During Drainage Through Rough Fractures

Silva

Kang

Yang

et al. 2019

Geophysical Research Letters

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Influence of Local Aperture Heterogeneity on Invading Fluid Connectivity During Rough Fracture Drainage

Phillips,

Bultreys,

Van Stappen

et al. 2024

Transp Porous Med

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Determining the (in)efficiency of wetting phase displacement by an invading non-wetting phase (drainage) in a single fracture is key to modelling upscaled properties such as relative permeability and capillary pressure. These constitutive relationships are fundamental to quantifying the contribution, or lack thereof, of conductive fracture systems to long-term leakage rates. Single-fracture-scale modelling and experimental studies have investigated this process, however, a lack of visualization of drainage in a truly representative sample at sufficient spatial and temporal resolution limits their predictive insights. Here, we used fast synchrotron X-ray tomography to image drainage in a natural geological fracture by capturing consecutive 2.75 μm voxel images with a 1 s scan time. Drainage was conducted under capillary-dominated conditions, where percolation-type patterns are expected. We observe this continuously connected invasion (capillary fingering) only to be valid in local regions with relative roughness, λb ≤ 0.56. Fractal dimension analysis of these invasion patterns strongly aligns with capillary fingering patterns previously reported in low λb fractures and porous media. Connected invasion is prevented from being the dominant invasion mechanism globally due to high aperture heterogeneity, where we observe disconnected invasion (snap-off, fragmented clusters) to be pervasive in local regions where λb ≥ 0.67. Our results indicate that relative roughness has significant control on flow as it influences fluid conductivity and thus provides an important metric to predict invasion dynamics during slow drainage.

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Immiscible fluid displacement in porous media with spatially correlated particle sizes

Borgman

Darwent

Segre

et al. 2019

Advances in Water Resources

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Immiscible fluid displacement in porous media is fundamental for many environmental processes, including infiltration of water in soils, groundwater remediation, enhanced recovery of hydrocarbons and CO 2 geosequestration. Microstructural heterogeneity, in particular of particle sizes, can significantly impact immiscible displacement. For instance, it may lead to unstable flow and preferential displacement patterns. We present a systematic, quantitative pore-scale study of the impact of spatial correlations in particle sizes on the drainage of a partially-wetting fluid. We perform pore-network simulations with varying flow rates and different degrees of spatial correlation, complemented with microfluidic experiments. Simulated and experimental displacement patterns show that spatial correlation leads to more preferential invasion, with reduced trapping of the defending fluid, especially at low flow rates. Numerically, we find that increasing the correlation length reduces the fluid-fluid interfacial area and the trapping of the defending fluid, and increases the invasion pattern asymmetry and selectivity. Our experiments, conducted for low capillary numbers, support these findings. Our results delineate the significant effect of spatial correlations on fluid displacement in porous media, of relevance to a wide range of natural and engineered processes.

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Drying and percolation in correlated porous media

Cited by 20 publications

References 43 publications

Impact of Confining Stress on Capillary Pressure Behavior During Drainage Through Rough Fractures

Impact of Confining Stress on Capillary Pressure Behavior During Drainage Through Rough Fractures

Influence of Local Aperture Heterogeneity on Invading Fluid Connectivity During Rough Fracture Drainage

Immiscible fluid displacement in porous media with spatially correlated particle sizes

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