BFRL ICON Simulation of Multicomponent Fluids in Complex Three-Dimensional Geometries by the Lattice Boltzmann Method.


pdf icon Simulation of Multicomponent Fluids in Complex Three-Dimensional Geometries by the Lattice Boltzmann Method. (654 K)
Martys, N. S.; Chen, H.

Physical Review E, Vol. 53, No. 1, 743-750, January 1996.

Keywords:

lattice Boltzmann; simulation; fluids; fluid flow; porous media

Abstract:

We describe an implementation of the recently proposed lattice Boltzmann based model of Shan and Chen to simulate multicomponent flow in complex three-dimensional geometries such as porous media. The above method allows for the direct incorporation of fluid-fluid and fluid-solid interactions as well as an applied external force. As a test of this method, we obtained Poiseuille flow for the case of a single fluid driven by a constant body force and obtained results consistent with Laplace's law for the case of two immiscible fluids. The displacement of one fluid by another in a porous media was then modeled. The relative permeability for different wetting fluid saturations of a microtomography-generated image of sandstone was calculated and compared favorably with experiment. In addition, we show that a first-order phase transition, in three dimensions, may be obtained by this lattice Boltzman method, demonstrating the potential for modeling phase transitions and multiphase flow in porous media.



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