Modelling of two-phase flow in capillary porous medium by a microscopic discrete approach

Abstract

The aim of this work is to study the fluid flow in porous media by a microscopic approach. For that, the microstructure of a porous material is represented by a network of capillary pipes with geometric and flow characteristics chosen in such a way as to fit both the pore volume and water saturated hydraulic conductivity of a studied porous material. In saturated state, a pipe is supposed to have a Kozney–Carman hydraulic conductivity. In partially saturated conditions, the “menisci model” as proposed by has been used. Such a representation is sufficient to satisfactory reproduce mostly of laboratory results on flow properties of a porous material in saturated and partially saturated conditions as demonstrated by our numerical results on a porous stone.

Keywords:

• flow
• unsaturated
• capillary tubes
• porous media
• meniscus