An analysis of the radial flow in the heterogeneous porous media based on fractal and constructal tree networks

Peng Xu, Boming Yu, Shuxia Qiu and Jianchao Cai

Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, 2008, vol. 387, issue 26, 6471-6483

Abstract: In this paper, an analysis of the radial flow in the heterogeneous porous media based on fractal and constructal tree networks is presented. A dual-domain model is applied to simulate the heterogeneous porous media embedded with a constructal tree network based on the fractal distribution of pore space and tortuosity nature of flow paths. The analytical expressions for seepage velocity, pressure drop, local and global permeability of the network and binary system are derived, and the transport properties for the optimal branching structure are discussed. Notable is that the global permeability (Kn) of the network and the volume fraction (fn) occupied by the network exhibit linear scaling law with the fractal dimension (Dp) of channel diameter bylogKn∼0.46Dp and logfn∼1.03Dp, respectively. Our analytical results are in good agreement with the available numerical results for steady-state soil vapor extraction and indicate that the fractal dimension for pore space has significant effect on the permeable properties of the media. The proposed dual-domain model may capture the characteristics of heterogeneous porous media and help understanding the transport mechanisms of the radial flow in the media.

Keywords: Radial flow; Heterogeneous porous media; Constructal tree network; Fractal; Permeability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:phsmap:v:387:y:2008:i:26:p:6471-6483

DOI: 10.1016/j.physa.2008.08.021

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