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Title: Flow and Transport Properties of Deforming Porous Media. I. Permeability
Estimating flow and transport properties of porous media that undergo deformation as a result of applying an external pressure or force is important to a wide variety of processes, ranging from injecting a fracking liquid into shale formations, to CO sequestration in spent oil reservoirs. We propose a novel model for estimating the effective flow and transport properties of such porous media. Assuming that the solid matrix of a porous medium undergoes elastic deformation, and given its initial porosity before deformation, as well as the Young’s modulus of its grains, the model uses an extension of the Hertz–Mindlin theory of contact between grains to compute the new PSD that results from applying an external pressure P to the medium, and utilizes the updated PSD in the effective-medium approximation (EMA) to estimate the effective flow and transport properties at pressure P. In the present part of this series, we use the theory to predict the effective permeability as a function of the applied pressure. Comparison between the predictions and experimental data for twenty-four types of sandstones indicates excellent agreement between the two.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2000968
PAR ID:
10625564
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Publisher / Repository:
Springer
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Transport in Porous Media
Volume:
138
Issue:
3
ISSN:
0169-3913
Page Range / eLocation ID:
577 to 609
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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