About this Research Topic
Multiphase flow through rocks plays a vital role in various earth science applications, such as carbon recovery, carbon dioxide storage, remediation of polluted aquifers, and subsurface energy storage in the form of hydrogen or compressed air. Many reservoir rocks, notably coal and clay-bearing sandstones, exhibit complex pore geometries with wide-range pore size distributions. The petro-physical properties of such rocks often do not obey classical correlations, spurring pore-scale studies of their fluid flow behavior.
Understanding multiphase flow within heterogeneous reservoir rocks is pivotal for reservoir management. Due to the macroscopic nature of experimental approaches, the details of the pore-scale flow-pattern in the porous medium cannot be properly captured. Investigating the impacts of pore-scale parameters on bulk properties generally entails numerous experimental datasets, which is time-consuming and expensive to generate. As alternative approaches, analytical and numerical methods aim to predict the permeability by resolving the fluid flow inside the pores of porous media. Owing to the intricate microstructures in rocks, the flow in analytical or semi-analytical solutions cannot be reliably modeled on the basis of simple assumptions. Moreover, it is difficult to portray the flow process in porous media at microscales, using traditional numerical simulation approaches. In this regard, pore-scale modeling combined with imaged-based experiments can be a useful tool to illustrate complex pore structures, which is of key importance in the subsequent simulation and prediction of multiphase flow behavior.
The purpose of this Research Topic is to explore the mechanisms of multiphase flow in rocks by employing laboratory methods and/or numerical simulation approaches from a microscale perspective. We welcome Original Research Article, Review Article, and Short Communication.
Specific themes include, but are not limited to:
• Methane transport behavior in coal or shale
• Seepage models of multiphase in rocks
• Pore-scale flow-pattern in the porous medium
• Image-based pore-scale modeling
• Cross-scale flow simulation by the lattice Boltzmann method
• Molecular dynamics of flow behavior
Understanding multiphase flow within heterogeneous reservoir rocks is pivotal for reservoir management. Due to the macroscopic nature of experimental approaches, the details of the pore-scale flow-pattern in the porous medium cannot be properly captured. Investigating the impacts of pore-scale parameters on bulk properties generally entails numerous experimental datasets, which is time-consuming and expensive to generate. As alternative approaches, analytical and numerical methods aim to predict the permeability by resolving the fluid flow inside the pores of porous media. Owing to the intricate microstructures in rocks, the flow in analytical or semi-analytical solutions cannot be reliably modeled on the basis of simple assumptions. Moreover, it is difficult to portray the flow process in porous media at microscales, using traditional numerical simulation approaches. In this regard, pore-scale modeling combined with imaged-based experiments can be a useful tool to illustrate complex pore structures, which is of key importance in the subsequent simulation and prediction of multiphase flow behavior.
The purpose of this Research Topic is to explore the mechanisms of multiphase flow in rocks by employing laboratory methods and/or numerical simulation approaches from a microscale perspective. We welcome Original Research Article, Review Article, and Short Communication.
Specific themes include, but are not limited to:
• Methane transport behavior in coal or shale
• Seepage models of multiphase in rocks
• Pore-scale flow-pattern in the porous medium
• Image-based pore-scale modeling
• Cross-scale flow simulation by the lattice Boltzmann method
• Molecular dynamics of flow behavior
Keywords: seepage, flow, multiscale, multiphase, pore-scale, microscopic, porous media, rock
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