HR: 16:15h
AN: H44D-02 [Abstracts]
TI: A level set based computer simulation of coupled flow and mineral precipitation/dissolution in
fracture apertures and porous media
AU: * Li, X
EM: xiaoyi.li@inl.gov
AF: Idaho National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1625, MS 2025, Idaho Falls, ID 83415, United States
AU: Huang, H
EM: hai.huang@inl.gov
AF: Idaho National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1625, MS 2025, Idaho Falls, ID 83415, United States
AU: Meakin, P
EM: Paul.Meakin@inl.gov
AF: Idaho National Laboratory, P.O. Box 1625, MS 2025, Idaho Falls, ID 83415, United States
AB:
Coupled fluid flow and reactive transport processes involving mineral precipitation and dissolution in fracture
apertures and porous media are important to a large variety of scientific and engineering applications, such as
acid stimulation of oil reservoirs, in-situ immobilization of contaminants in groundwater etc. We developed a level
set based simulation technique to model the coupled reactive flow and structural evolution within pores and
fracture apertures. Convection, diffusion and chemical reactions resulting in changes in the pore geometries and
fracture apertures are modeled simultaneously by solving coupled momentum, reaction and solute transport
equations. The reaction-induced evolution of solid grain surfaces and fracture walls is captured by using a level
set interface tracking method. We obtain a more elegant sub-grid representation of the curved interface using a
level set approach, compared to the pixel-like representation of the interface used in most simple Lattice
Boltzmann simulations. The model was validated against analytical solutions for simplified geometries. Different
precipitation/dissolution patterns in porous media and fractures were obtained in our simulations for different
combinations of reaction rates and diffusion rates. Quantitative relationships between the hydraulic properties
(e.g. permeability and porosity) of the media and their temporal evolutions can also be obtained from simulations.
DE: 1009 Geochemical modeling (3610, 8410)
DE: 1828 Groundwater hydraulics
DE: 1832 Groundwater transport
DE: 1847 Modeling
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting