Fractals ? An overview of potential applications to transport in porous media

Abstract

We present an overview of the potential applicability of fractal concepts to various aspects of transport phenomena in heterogeneous porous media. Three examples of phenomena where a fractal approach should prove illuminating are presented. In the first example we consider pore level heterogeneities as typified by pore surface roughness. We suggest that roughness may be usefully modelled by fractal curves and surfaces and also cite experimental evidence for regarding pores as fractals. In the second example we consider a fractal network approach to modelling large-scale heterogeneities. The presence of features on all length scales in simple fractal models should capture the essential role played by the presence of heterogeneities on many scales in natural reservoirs. Studies of transport phenomena in such models may yield valuable insights into the problems of macroscopic dispersion. The final example concerns dispersion in multiphase flow. Here the fractal character is attributed to the distribution of the fluid phases rather than the porous medium itself. Again studies of transport phenomena in simple fractal models should help to clarify various problems associated with the corresponding phenomena in real reservoirs.