Abstract
A novel method for simulating multi-phase flow in porous media is presented. The approach is based on a control volume finite element mixed formulation and new force-balanced finite element pairs. The novelty of the method lies in: (a) permitting both continuous and discontinuous description of pressure and saturation between elements; (b) the use of arbitrarily high-order polynomial representation for pressure and velocity and (c) the use of high-order flux-limited methods in space and time to avoid introducing non-physical oscillations while achieving high-order accuracy where and when possible. The model is initially validated for two-phase flow. Results are in good agreement with analytically obtained solutions and experimental results. The potential of this method is demonstrated by simulating flow in a realistic geometry composed of highly permeable meandering channels.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 431–445 |
Number of pages | 23 |
Journal | International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids |
Volume | 83 |
Issue number | 5 |
Early online date | 4 Aug 2016 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 20 Feb 2017 |
Keywords
- CVFEM mixed formulation
- discontinuous Galerkin
- flux-limiting
- high-order method
- multi-phase flows
- porous media flows