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Horizontal miscible displacements through porous media: the interplay between viscous fingering and gravity segregation

Nijjer, J; Hewitt, D; Neufeld, J; (2021) Horizontal miscible displacements through porous media: the interplay between viscous fingering and gravity segregation. Journal of Fluid Mechanics , 935 , Article A14. 10.1017/jfm.2021.1067. Green open access

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Abstract

We consider miscible displacements in two-dimensional homogeneous porous media where the displacing fluid is less viscous and has a different density than the displaced fluid. We find that the dynamics evolve through nine possible regimes depending on the viscosity ratio, strength of density variations and the strength of the background flow, as characterized by the Péclet number. At early times the interface is dominated by longitudinal diffusion before undergoing a transition to a slumping regime where vertical flow is important. At intermediate times, vertical flow and diffusion can be neglected and there are three different limiting solutions: a fingering limit; an injection-driven gravity-current limit; and a density-driven gravity-current limit. Finally at late times, transverse diffusion becomes important and there is a transition from an apparent shutdown regime to a viscously enhanced Taylor-slumping regime. In each of the regimes, the dominant scalings are identified and reduced-order models for the evolution of the concentration field are developed. Lastly, three case studies are considered to illustrate the dominant physical balances in the geophysically relevant setting of geological CO2 storage.

Type: Article
Title: Horizontal miscible displacements through porous media: the interplay between viscous fingering and gravity segregation
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1017/jfm.2021.1067
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1017/jfm.2021.1067
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Mathematics
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10139203
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