Pore scale modelling of DNAPL migration in a water–saturated porous medium

Abstract

A numerical simulator based on the discrete network model approach has been developed to simulate drainage processes in a water-saturated porous medium. To verify the predictive potential of the approach to simulate the unstable migration of a dense nonaqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) at the pore scale, the numerical model was applied to laboratory experiments conducted on a sand-filled column. The parameters relative to pore body size and pore throat size used in the construction of the equivalent network were derived from discrete grain-size distribution of the real porous medium. The observed water retention curve (WRC) was first simulated by desaturation of the network model. The good agreement of the modelled WRC with the experimental one highlights that the applied approach reproduces the main characteristics of the real pore space. The numerical model was then applied to rate controlled experiments performed on a homogenous sand-filled column to study the gravity-driven fingering phenomenon of immiscible two-phase flow of water and a DNAPL. The numerical results match within 10% based on the standard deviation with the experiments. They correctly reproduce the effect of several system parameters, such as flow mode (upward flow and downward flow) and the flow rate, on the stability of the water/DNAPL front in a saturated porous medium.