Connecting Pore-Scale Dynamics to Macroscopic Models for Multiphase Flow

Abstract:

An important objective of pore-scale modeling is to study the connection between the simulated microscale information and the corresponding macroscopic state of the system. A complete macroscopic picture of a multiphase porous medium systems must rely on averaged measures to describe the dynamic behavior of the phases, interfaces and common curves. We describe an approach for pore-scale simulation of multiphase flow in which macroscopic quantities defined by the thermodynamically constrained averaging theory (TCAT) are directly measured in situ. The macroscopic quantities extracted include phase pressures and velocities, interfacial curvatures, interface velocities, common curve lengths, contact angles, orientation tensors, and phase connectivity information. We demonstrate how our approach can be applied to large-scale lattice Boltzmann simulations of two-fluid-phase flow to evaluate macroscopic modeling assumptions, providing specific examples for the case of capillary pressure dynamics.