A Coupled Model of Multiphase Flow, Reactive Biogeochemical Transport, Thermal Transport and Geo-Mechanics.

Abstract:

In this investigation, a coupled model of multiphase flow, reactive biogeochemical transport, thermal transport and geo-mechanics in subsurface media is presented. It iteratively solves the mass conservation equation for fluid flow, thermal transport equation for temperature, reactive biogeochemical transport equations for concentration distributions, and solid momentum equation for displacement with successive linearization algorithm. With species-based equations of state, density of a phase in the system is obtained by summing up concentrations of all species. This circumvents the problem of having to use empirical functions. Moreover, reaction rates of all species are incorporated in mass conservation equation for fluid flow. Formation enthalpy of all species is included in the law of energy conservation as a source-sink term. Finite element methods are used to discretize the governing equations. Numerical experiments are presented to examine the accuracy and robustness of the proposed model. The results demonstrate the feasibility and capability of present model in subsurface media.