A COMPREHENSIVE SIMULATOR FOR MULTIPHASE FLUID FLOW AND CHEMICAL TRANSPORT IN POROUS MEDIA

FIELD INVESTIGATIONS NATIONWIDE REVEAL THE PRESENCE OF NON-AQUEOUS PHASE LIQUIDS IN THE SUBSURFACE. OILY FUELS HAVE BEEN RELEASED TO THE SUBSURFACE BY LEAKY TANKS, WHILE AT OTHER SITES, CONTAMINATION HAS RESULTED FROM CHEMICAL SPILLS AND IMPROPER WASTE DISPOSAL PRACTICES. DUE TO THE COMPLEXITIES OF MULTIPHASE FLOW AND TRANSPORT PROCESSES, RESEARCHERS HAVE ONLY RECENTLY BEGUN TO DEVELOP SIMULATION MODELS. TO GAIN A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONTAMINANT MIGRATION AND FATE, A COMPREHENSIVE MULTIPHASE SIMULATOR IS NEEDED. CURRENTLY AVAILABLE SIMULATORS ARE LIMITED IN APPLICATIONS. MANY SIMULATORS REQUIRE UNREALISTIC MODELING ASSUMPTIONS. OTHERS ARE CAPABLE OF MODELING THE COMPLEX SUBSURFACE PROCESSES BUT RESTRICTED BY EXCESSIVE COMPUTATIONAL DEMANDS AND THUS IMPRACTICAL FOR USE ON SITE-SPECIFIC PROBLEMS. RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING A VERSATILE SIMULATOR SUITABLE FOR FIELD AND RESEARCH APPLICATIONS. A GENERAL NON-ISOTHERMAL COMPOSITIONAL FORMULATION ALLOWING CHEMICAL TRANSPORT IN ALL PHASES IS BEIG USED. THE MODEL INCORPORATES STATE-OF-THE-ART NUMERICAL SCHEMES AND VARIOUS OPTIONS FOR CONSIDERING SIMPLIFYING ASSUMPTIONS TO PROVIDE EFFICIENT SOLUTIONS FOR A WIDE VARIETY OF PRACTICAL PROBLEMS. THE MODEL IS BEING DEVELOPED BY EXTENDING AN EXISTING MULTIPHASE CODE TO INCLUDE COMPOSITIONAL AND NON-ISOTHERMAL EFFECTS. THE ENHANCED CODE IS VERIFIED AGAINST ANALYTICAL SOLUTIONS AND OTHER DOCUMENTED NUMERICAL CODES.