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A new insight into onset of inertial flow in porous media using network modeling with converging/diverging pores

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Abstract

The network modeling approach is applied to provide a new insight into the onset of non-Darcy flow through porous media. The analytical solutions of one-dimensional Navier-Stokes equation in sinusoidal and conical converging/diverging throats are used to calculate the pressure drop/flow rate responses in the capillaries of the network. The analysis of flow in a single pore revealed that there are two different regions for the flow coefficient ratio as a function of the aspect ratio. It is found that the critical Reynolds number strongly depends on the pore geometrical properties including throat length, average aspect ratio, and average coordination number of the porous media, and an estimation of such properties is required to achieve more reliable predictions. New criteria for the onset of non-Darcy flow are also proposed to overcome the lack of geometrical data. Although the average aspect ratio is the main parameter which controls the inertia effects, the effect of tortuosity on the onset of non-Darcy flow increases when the coordination number of media decreases. In addition, the higher non-Darcy coefficient does not essentially accelerate the onset of inertial flow. The results of this work can help to better understand how the onset of inertial flow may be controlled/changed by the pore architecture of porous media.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Salehi’s graphical group and Amir Hossein Mousavi for their help in providing the graphical figures.

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  1. Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department, Sharif University of Technology, Azadi Ave, Tehran, Iran

    Maziar Veyskarami, Amir Hossein Hassani & Mohammad Hossein Ghazanfari

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  1. Maziar Veyskarami
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  2. Amir Hossein Hassani
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  3. Mohammad Hossein Ghazanfari
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Correspondence to Maziar Veyskarami.

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Veyskarami, M., Hassani, A.H. & Ghazanfari, M.H. A new insight into onset of inertial flow in porous media using network modeling with converging/diverging pores. Comput Geosci 22, 329–346 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10596-017-9695-3

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