On the Inclusion of the Interfacial Area Between Phases in the Physical and Mathematical Description of Subsurface Multiphase Flow

Gray, William G. ; Soll, Wendy E. ; Tompson, Andrew F.B.

University of Notre Dame

关键词: Multiphase Flow;    Knowledge Base;    54 Environmental Sciences;    Simulation;   

DOI  :  10.2172/825765
RP-ID  :  EMSP-54576--2000
RP-ID  :  FG07-96ER14701
RP-ID  :  825765

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

The scientific motivation for conducting this research lies in an assessment of the current state of modeling in the subsurface, where ''modeling'' refers to any systematic framework used to gain understanding of a system. At present, subsurface modeling addresses only the phases present, and even there considers the modeling process to be an extension of single phase flow. The shortcoming of this approach is that the governing flow equations do not account for some of the important physical phenomena. therefore accurate simulation is more of an art that a scientific exercise. Experimental and field programs designed to measure data in support of these equations may actually be seeking curve fitting coefficients rather than information characteristic of physical phenomena. By providing a more general framework, we can contribute to improving the knowledge base related to important processes in the subsurface.