InterPore2025

Flow and transport in multiscale digital rocks: model development and numerical studies

22 May 2025, 15:45

1h 30m

Poster Presentation (MS09) Pore-scale modelling Poster

Speaker

Prof. Chao-Zhong Qin (Chongqing University)

Description

Many subsurface and industrial porous media such as soils, carbonate rocks, filters, and catalysts possess multiscale pore structures that play an important role in regulating fluid flow and transport processes. A pore-network-continuum hybrid flow model is promising for numerical studies of a multiscale digital rock [1-3]. It is, however, still prohibitive to the REV-size modeling because tens of millions of microporosity voxels may exist.
In this talk, I will introduce a novel and robust algorithm for coarsening microporosity voxels of a multiscale digital rock. Then, we combine coarsened microporosity grids with the pore network of resolved macropores to form efficient computational meshes as shown in Fig. 1. Furthermore, a pore-network-continuum simulator is developed to simulate flow and transport in both synthesized multiscale digital rocks and realistic carbonate and tight rocks. I will show that the coarsening algorithm can reduce computational grids by over 90%, which substantially reduces computational costs. Meanwhile, coarsening microporosity has a minor impact on the predictions of absolute permeability, gas production curves, and breakthrough curves of solute transport.
Finally, I will present the application of the hybrid model in the modeling of capillary pressure and relative permeability curves of tight sandstones and carbonate rocks. The developed pore-network-continuum hybrid model aided by grid coarsening of microporosity serves as a useful numerical tool to study flow and transport in multiscale porous media.