Quantifying mixing in viscously unstable porous media flows
Author(s)
Jha, Birendra; Cueto-Felgueroso, Luis; Juanes, Ruben
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Viscous fingering is a well-known hydrodynamic instability that sets in when a less viscous fluid displaces a more viscous fluid. When the two fluids are miscible, viscous fingering introduces disorder in the velocity field and exerts a fundamental control on the rate at which the fluids mix. Here we analyze the characteristic signature of the mixing process in viscously unstable flows, by means of high-resolution numerical simulations using a computational strategy that is stable for arbitrary viscosity ratios. We propose a reduced-order model of mixing, which, in the spirit of turbulence modeling and in contrast with previous approaches, recognizes the fundamental role played by the mechanical dissipation rate. The proposed model captures the nontrivial interplay between channeling and creation of interfacial area as a result of viscous fingering.
Date issued
2011-12Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringJournal
Physical Review E
Publisher
American Physical Society (APS)
Citation
Jha, Birendra, Luis Cueto-Felgueroso, and Ruben Juanes. “Quantifying Mixing in Viscously Unstable Porous Media Flows.” Physical Review E 84.6 (2011): n. pag. Web. 17 Feb. 2012. © 2011 American Physical Society
Version: Final published version
ISSN
1539-3755
1550-2376