A Numerical Study of the Distribution of Water in Partially Saturated Porous Rock

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• 作者：Brian Berkowitz and David P. Hansen
• 关键词：Partial saturation ; fluid distribution ; interfacial area ; water films ; simulated annealing
• 刊名：Transport in Porous Media
• 出版年：2001
• 出版时间：2001
• 年：2001
• 卷：45
• 期：2
• 页码：301-317
• 全文大小：273 KB
• 刊物类别：Earth and Environmental Science
• 刊物主题：Earth sciences
  Geotechnical Engineering
  Industrial Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
  Civil Engineering
  Hydrogeology
  Mechanics, Fluids and Thermodynamics
  
• 出版者：Springer Netherlands
• ISSN：1573-1634

文摘

The distribution of water and air phases in small blocks of porous sandstone is examined by using a simulated annealing technique that finds the minimum interfacial energy distributions at different saturations. Simulations are based on existing sandstone microstructures that were determined by X-ray microtomography. At low saturations, some of the water is distributed in films along the walls of larger pore spaces, and connects to pendular structures in the crevices and smaller pores. As the amount of water in the pores increases the water films become thicker and pores fill from the pendular structures. The distribution of water voxels in the pore space is examined by calculating interfacial areas, by classifying water voxels as to whether they lie within films or clusters, and by determining the size and distribution of these film clusters. An exponential relationship is found between the fraction of water voxels in the films and the degree of saturation. In addition, the dependency of small-sample electrical conductivity on saturation is examined by using a random walk method.