Collaborative Research: Intermittency in Multi-Phase Flows in 2D and 3D Porous Media: Coordinated Experiments and Simulations

了解流体如何在多孔介质中运动是非常重要的。我们所依赖的大部分水来自穿过土壤的地下水。对于我们能源需求的很大一部分，我们必须从地下开采石油和天然气。此外，一些最有希望提出的减少温室气体排放到大气中的方法依赖于将二氧化碳重新注入地下的多孔介质，在那里它可能永远被困住。同样，许多提供基本产品或清洁空气和水供应的工业过程都依赖于通过工程设计的多孔介质传递流体。几乎所有这些流动都是复杂的，因为它们可能涉及多个流体与高度不均匀的多孔几何结构相互作用。虽然科学家对单一液体如何在这样的系统中流动有合理的理解，但当涉及两种不同的液体时，我们的预测能力会显著下降。然而，了解和更好地预测这些流动将增强我们改善清洁水的获取、更有效地提取和使用能源资源、保护我们未来的环境和设计更有效的工业流程的能力。这个项目关注的是这样复杂的流程。通过将最先进的实验和理论相结合，研究人员将发展和加强我们目前对多孔介质中多相流的理解，并开发新的方法和模型来预测其复杂行为。作为这项研究工作的一部分，研究生和本科生将接受培训，并将与圣母大学的数字可视化剧院合作开发高分辨率、高保真的环境流体力学可视化教学经验，并与其他机构公开分享。将开展协调的实验和数值计划，以提高对2D和3D多孔介质中多相流传输的理解和建模能力。利用一种新的折射率匹配方法，将在二维和三维多孔模型中跨粘性和惯性流区进行单相流和多相流中的颗粒跟踪。此外，为了能够更广泛和更有效地扫描参数空间，将进行一系列互补的尖端格子Boltzmann模拟，并通过实验数据进行验证。这些创新的实验和模拟与最先进的传输建模紧密结合，将验证和推进建模策略，改变我们对2D和3D多孔介质中单相流和多相流中间歇性的理解，并改进对一系列工程和环境应用的宏观传输过程的预测。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Understanding how fluids move through porous media is of great importance. Much of the water we rely on comes from groundwater which passes through soils. For a significant part of our energy needs we must extract oil and gas from the subsurface. In addition, some of the most promising proposed methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere rely on injecting CO2 back into porous media in the subsurface, where it can be trapped forever. Similarly, many industrial processes that provide essential products or clean our air and water supplies rely on passing fluids through engineered porous media. Virtually all of these flows are complex, because they can involve multiple fluids interacting with highly heterogeneous porous geometries. While scientists have a reasonable understanding of how a single fluid might move through such systems, when two different fluids are involved our predictive skills deteriorate significantly. And yet, understanding and better predicting these flows will enhance our ability to improve access to clean water, extract and use energy resources more efficiently, protect our future environment and design more effective industrial processes. This project focuses on such complex flows. By combining state of the art experiments and theory, the investigators will develop and enhance our current understanding of multiphase flows through porous media and develop novel methods and models to predict their complex behaviors. Graduate and undergraduate students will receive training as part of this research effort, and a high resolution, high fidelity visual teaching experience on environmental fluid mechanics will be developed in collaboration with Notre Dame's Digital Visualization Theater and shared openly with other institutions.A coordinated experimental and numerical program will be undertaken to advance understanding of and ability to model transport in multi-phase flows in 2D and 3D porous media. Particle tracking in both single- and multi-phase flow in 2D and 3D porous models across viscous and inertial flow regimes will be conducted leveraging a novel refractive-index-matching approach. Additionally, to enable a broader and more efficient sweep of the parameter space, a complementary series of cutting edge Lattice Boltzmann simulations, validated with experimental data, will be conducted. These innovative experiments and simulations, tightly coupled to state-of-the-art transport modeling, will validate and advance modeling strategies, transforming our understanding of intermittency in single- and multi-phase flows in 2D and 3D porous media and improving predictions of transport processes at the macro-scale for a range of engineering and environmental applications.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.