(195j) Dissolution of a Single Disk: Validation and Refinement of Pore-Scale Simulations

Dissolution by subsurface flow makes an important contribution to the evolution of geological forms. Reservoir-scale models can be used to describe these processes but the key constitutive laws for flow, dispersion, and reaction must be constructed empirically. We use the pore-scale numerical simulations, based on the OpenFOAM toolkit, to investigate the fundamentals of dissolution in simple models of a porous matrix. Our overarching purpose is to develop upscaled models of dissolution, based on the results of pore-scale simulations. Here I will describe work aimed at validating the underlying physics and numerics of pore-scale simulations.

I will first present a validation of the physical model, by comparing simulations of a dissolving cylinder with the results of a microfluidic experiment. The accuracy of the numerical method, and in particular the evolution of the boundary, was confirmed by comparison with solutions of conformal mapping. Results from conformal mapping have been used to guide improvements in the creation and updating of a conforming mesh around the dissolving grains. Finally, I will present recent results for dissolution of arrays of disks to suggest ways of upscaling in cases where dissolution is predominantly transport controlled.

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division under Award Number DE-SC0018676, and by the National Science Center (Poland) under research Grant No. 2012/07/E/ST3/01734