Two‐dimensional stable‐layered laboratory‐scale experiments for testing density‐coupled flow models

Abstract

[1] A series of laboratory-scale two-dimensional porous medium tank experiments was conducted to study stable-layered variable density flow problems using well-defined experimental parameters and boundary conditions. The experiments were carried out both in a rectangular flow tank and in a more complex geometrical setup aimed at studying variable density flow in geometries similar to geological formations of aquifers and aquicludes connected via fault zones. An impermeable layer within the porous medium tank forced the solutes to pass through a vertical channel, representing a geological fault zone, to reach the outlet of the tank. Flow through the porous medium occurred through a single inflow opening and an outflow opening on the opposite edge of the domain. An image analysis technique delivered 2%, 10%, 50%, and 80% salt concentration isolines at distinct times. Breakthrough curves of the dyed saltwater with an initial density of 1063 g/L were available at any location within the tank. The experimental data are presented as benchmark problems to evaluate numerical codes. A numerical model based on mixed finite elements for the fluid flow problem and a combination of discontinuous Galerkin finite element and multipoint flux approximation methods for the transport turned out to be adequate for the simulation of the physical experiments. The high data availability makes the proposed benchmark experiments a valuable tool for assessing the performance of density-coupled flow models.Citation: Konz, M., P. Ackerer, A. Younes, P. Huggenberger, and E. Zechner (2009), Two-dimensional stable-layered laboratoryscale experiments for testing density-coupled flow models, Water Resour. Res., 45, W02404,

Modelling variable density flow problems in heterogeneous porous media using the method of lines and advanced spatial discretization methods

“…Thus, we do not discuss parameter estimation of the porous medium and error analysis of the optical measurement technique here (see [23] for details).…”

Acid/base front propagation in saturated porous media: 2D laboratory experiments and modeling

“…Values of effective porosity and longitudinal and transverse dispersivities were taken from Konz et al (2009a), who performed experiments at the same scale and with the same porous material. The longitudinal dispersivity α L was fixed to the average size of the glass beads, and the transverse dispersivity was ten times lower.…”

“…Two-dimensional setups have been used only recently to observe key features of reactive transport experiments, with special emphasis on transverse mixing processes in the presence of fluids with different water compositions. Experiments have documented the precipitation pattern of a calcium carbonate solid phase (Katz et al, 2011), concentration distributions in heterogeneous density-driven flow systems ( Konz et al, 2009a), biodegradation of toluene (Bauer et al, 2008), and transverse mixing in heterogeneous porous media ( Rolle et al, 2009).…”

Simulation of rock salt dissolution and its impact on land subsidence

“…On the other hand, both the MPFA and DG use the same type of unknowns that give the advantage of gathering it into one system matrix. So far, the combination DG-MPFA has shown to be a robust and accurate approach for modelling density-driven flow problems (Konz et al, 2008;Zechner et al, 2011;Zidane et al, 2012). Non-iterative time stepping is used in this work.…”