HR: 13:55h
AN: H43J-02    [Abstracts]
TI: Drainage Studies Using Pore-Scale Approaches
AU: * Liu, E B
EM: Elizabeth.Liu@jhu.edu
AF: Johns Hopkins University, Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, 313 Ames Hall, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
AU: Reed, A H
EM: areed@nrlssc.navy.mil
AF: Seafloor Sciences Branch, Naval Research Laboratory, Bldg.1005, Rm.B-5, Stennis Space Center, MS 39529, United States
AU: Hilpert, M
EM: Markus_Hilpert@jhu.edu
AF: Johns Hopkins University, Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering, 313 Ames Hall, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218, United States
AB: The process of drainage has wide spread applications in soil hydrology, irrigation, and the remediation of contaminants in the subsurface. In this paper, we present the comparison of experimental and pore-scale modeling results for drainage. Using a HD-500 microCT system, X-ray tomographic images (21 micron voxels) of saturation during a drainage experiment were obtained in a porous medium consisting of 20/30 mesh (590- 840 microns) Accusand. Utilizing the segmented microtomographic images of the pore space, we modeled drainage using two pore-scale approaches: (1) the pore-morphology-based simulator (PMBS) developed by Hilpert and Miller (2001), and (2) a Lattice Boltzmann (LB) model. Invasion pathways and pressure-saturation relations obtained from both the PMBS and the LB model were compared with those obtained from experiments. The results of PMBS modeling displayed good agreement with experimental observations, except at high suction and low water saturation values, where both CT resolution and model assumptions become an issue. The LB model is currently being refined, and the results of these simulations will also be presented.
DE: 1829 Groundwater hydrology
DE: 1832 Groundwater transport
DE: 1838 Infiltration
DE: 1847 Modeling
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting