Pore-scale modeling of solute transport in partially-saturated porous media

Ali Saeibehrouzi; Soroush Abolfathi; Petr Denissenko; Ran Holtzman

doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2024.104870

Pore-scale modeling of solute transport in partially-saturated porous media

Ali Saeibehrouzi, Soroush Abolfathi, Petr Denissenko, Ran Holtzman

Research Centre for Fluid and Complex Systems

University of Warwick

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

64 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Solute transport in partially-saturated porous media plays a key role in multiple applications across scales, from the migration of nutrients and contaminants in soils to geological energy storage and recovery. Our understanding of transport in unsaturated porous media remains limited compared to the well-studied saturated case. The focus of this review is the non-reactive transport driven by the displacement of immiscible fluids, where the fluid-fluid interface acts as a barrier that limits the solute to a single fluid phase. State-of-the-art pore-scale models are described, with a critical analysis of the gaps and challenges. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the acute sensitivity of solute transport prediction to minute, inevitable uncertainties in the spatial distribution of the fluids' velocities and interface configuration associated with the multiphase flow modeling.

Original language	English
Article number	104870
Number of pages	16
Journal	Earth-Science Reviews
Volume	256
Early online date	20 Jul 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2024.104870
Publication status	Published - Sept 2024

Bibliographical note

© 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/),
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited..

Funder

EP/V050613/1, Hysteresis of two-phase flows in porous and fractured media. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Funding

EP/V050613/1, Hysteresis of two-phase flows in porous and fractured media. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Funders	Funder number
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council	EP/V050613/1

Keywords

Critical zone processes
Immiscible fluid displacement
Multiphase flow
Multiscale heterogeneity
Pore-scale modeling
Porous media
Solute transport
Unsaturated transport
Vadose zone

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Earth and Planetary Sciences

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10.1016/j.earscirev.2024.104870

Holtzman2024VoRFinal published version, 3.12 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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abstract = "Solute transport in partially-saturated porous media plays a key role in multiple applications across scales, from the migration of nutrients and contaminants in soils to geological energy storage and recovery. Our understanding of transport in unsaturated porous media remains limited compared to the well-studied saturated case. The focus of this review is the non-reactive transport driven by the displacement of immiscible fluids, where the fluid-fluid interface acts as a barrier that limits the solute to a single fluid phase. State-of-the-art pore-scale models are described, with a critical analysis of the gaps and challenges. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the acute sensitivity of solute transport prediction to minute, inevitable uncertainties in the spatial distribution of the fluids' velocities and interface configuration associated with the multiphase flow modeling.",

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AU - Denissenko, Petr

AU - Holtzman, Ran

N1 - © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited..

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AB - Solute transport in partially-saturated porous media plays a key role in multiple applications across scales, from the migration of nutrients and contaminants in soils to geological energy storage and recovery. Our understanding of transport in unsaturated porous media remains limited compared to the well-studied saturated case. The focus of this review is the non-reactive transport driven by the displacement of immiscible fluids, where the fluid-fluid interface acts as a barrier that limits the solute to a single fluid phase. State-of-the-art pore-scale models are described, with a critical analysis of the gaps and challenges. A numerical example is provided to demonstrate the acute sensitivity of solute transport prediction to minute, inevitable uncertainties in the spatial distribution of the fluids' velocities and interface configuration associated with the multiphase flow modeling.

KW - Critical zone processes

KW - Immiscible fluid displacement

KW - Multiphase flow

KW - Multiscale heterogeneity

KW - Pore-scale modeling

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KW - Solute transport

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KW - Vadose zone

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Pore-scale modeling of solute transport in partially-saturated porous media

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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