Interaction of chemical dissolution fronts during transport in an anisotropic porous medium with initial small non-uniformity

Abstract:

The formation of dissolution-induced finger patterns in geologic media is an important issue in a range of geologic settings and industrial applications. A considerable amount of research has been conducted into the morphological evolution of chemical dissolution fronts within an isotropic fluid-saturated porous medium. Although real geologic media are never perfectly isotropic, previous studies often assume they are. This study investigates temporal porosity evolution in an anisotropic fluid-saturated porous medium. A series of numerical simulations are performed to evaluate the morphological evolution of chemical dissolution front. Simulation results indicate that morphological evolution of chemical dissolution fronts not only depends on the spacing of two local non-uniformities and the upstream pressure gradient but also the medium anisotropic permeability ratio. However, the effect of the medium anisotropic permeability ratio decreases with increasing upstream pressure gradient.