Relating pore-scale observations to continuum-scale models: Impact of ganglion dynamics on flow transport kinetics

Water Resources Research

June 2024

The transport and confinement of hydrocarbons, organic pollutants or CO₂ within rock pores is a complicated process that occurs on a minuscule scale. The interplay of intricate fluid dynamics and alterations in rock and fluid characteristics at the microscopic level can have a considerable influence on continuum-scale flow properties. Continuum-scale models used to predict fluid flow in the subsurface are usually based on averaged flow parameters and do not account for the physics that occur at the pore scale. This often leads to disparities between the flow predictions made at the pore scale and at the field scale. A long-standing challenge in scaling up flow from the pore scale to the continuum scale lies in addressing the impact of disconnected fluid ganglia and ganglion dynamics on overall flow transport kinetics. This work aims to bridge this gap between the pore and continuum scales. We investigate the behavioural response of the saturation function (a continuum-scale function) to wettability and flow rate-induced changes in dynamic fluid connectivity.