Mass and Heat Transfer During Two-Phase Flow in Porous Media - Theory and Modeling

Abstract

1.1 Motivation This chapter focusses on the description and modeling of mass transfer processes occurring between two fluid phases in a porous medium. The principle underlying physical process comprises a transport of particles from one phase to the other phase. This process takes place across fluid–fluid interfaces (see Fig. 1) and may constitute evaporation, dissolution, or condensation, for example. Such mass transfer processes are crucial in many applications involving flow and transport in porous media. Major examples are found in soil science (where the evaporation from soils is of interest), soil and groundwater remediation (like thermally-enhanced soil vapor extraction where dissolution, evaporation, and condensation play a role), storage of carbon dioxide in the subsurface (where the dissolution of carbon dioxide in the surrounding groundwater is a crucial storage mechanism), CO2-enhanced oil recovery (where after primary and secondary recovery, carbon dioxide is injected into the reservoir in order to mobilize an additional 8-20 per cent of oil), and various industrial porous systems (such as certain types of fuel cells). Let us have a closer look at a few of these applications and identify where interphase mass transfer is relevant. Four specific examples are shown in Fig. 2 and briefly described.