Analysis of Displacement Variances in Stochastic Nonuniform Flows by Means of a First Order Analytical Model and Comparison with Monte-Carlo Simulations

Abstract

Flow, particle displacement and particle arrival time statistics in 2D nonuniform flows, without microdispersion, are studied both theoretically, in the framework of stochastic modelling, and numerically by means of Monte-Carlo simulations. Turning, radial convergent and dipolar flow fields are considered. These three types of flow are numerically investigated in heterogeneous media with different levels of heterogeneity. Monte-Carlo simulations show (1) that the scale separation hypothesis, frequently used in fluid mechanics, is justified for one-point flow statistics; and (2) how displacement variances, and consequently the dispersivities defined as their spatial derivatives, depend on the type and the amplitude of flow nonuniformity: in none of the investigated cases does the assumption of scale separation hold for displacement, except in the turning flow when the spatial scale associated to the nonuniformity is much greater than the correlation scale of transmissivity. The theoretical approach of displacement and arrival time statistics relies on the analysis of particle trajectory. Displacement variances expressions are derived by the perturbation method for each type of flow and for different approximation orders. The proposed expressions of displacement variances are, on the whole, in good agreement with the numerical results. On the other hand, the uniform flow approximation – commonly used for the interpretation of tracer experiments – chosen such as to satisfy the mean arrival time to the pumping well, gives the best prediction of the breakthrough curves.