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A Hierarchy of Models for Simulating Experimental Results 6 from a 3D Heterogeneous Porous Medium

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/articles/g445ck10h

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  • In this work we examine the dispersion of conservative tracers (bromide and fluorescein) in an experimentally constructed three-dimensional dual-porosity porous medium, and in the absence of adjustable parameters. The medium is highly heterogeneous (σ2 Y = 5.7), and consists of spherical, low-hydraulic-conductivity inclusions embedded in a high-hydraulic-conductivity matrix. The bi-modal medium was saturated with tracers, and then flushed with tracer-free fluid while the effluent breakthrough curves were measured. The focus for this work is to examine a hierarchy of decreasingly complex models to assess their ability to accurately represent the measured breakthrough curves. The most information-rich model was a direct numerical simulation of the system in which the geometry, boundary and initial conditions, and medium properties were fully independently characterized experimentally with high fidelity. The reduced models included (1) a simplified numerical model identical to the fully-resolved DNS model, but using a domain that was one-tenth the size; (2) an upscaled mobile-immobile model that allowed for a time-dependent mass-transfer coefficient; and, (3) an upscaled mobile-immobile model that assumed a space-time constant mass-transfer coefficient. The results illustrated that all four models provided accurate representations of the experimental breakthrough curves as measured by global RMS error. The primary component of error induced in the upscaled models appeared to arise from the neglect of convection within the inclusions. We discuss the necessity to assign value (via a utility function or other similar method) to assign value to outcomes if one is to further select from among model options.
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  • 116
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