EVAPORATION OF A FLUID IN CAPILLARY POROUS MEDIA USING A 3D CORRELATED NETWORK MODEL

Abstract

We present the results from simulation studies of evaporation of a single fluid in a capillary porous medium. Employing a three-dimensional site-bond correlated network model to represent a porous medium, namely Clashac sandstone, we analyze different aspects of the phase distribution by evaporation of a single fluid in the porous medium. As a direct consequence of the porous medium utilized, we analyze the influence of a strongly disordered porous media with a broad range of pore and throat size distributions in the evaporation process. Experimental data togheter with throat and pore size distributions were used to build and match the network model, allowing us to determine the porosimetric curve for the Clashac sandstone for different degrees of correlation. Also, the correlation length was obtained from the percolation theory. In our case study the evaporation process modeled was insensitive to the different degrees of correlation that might occur between pores and throats. In addition, it was observed that the evaporation pattern was the same for all analyzed networks above the correlation length.