Abstract
We study Riemann solutions for a system of two nonlinear conservation laws that models buoyancy-driven flow of three immiscible fluids in a porous medium, which do not exchange mass. We also assume that the fluids are incompressible and the flow occurs in the vertical spatial dimension. We consider the simplified case in which two of the three fluids have equal densities, obtaining the Riemann solutions by the wave curve method. As expected, the solutions contain waves traveling both upwards and downwards. The sequences of waves contain rarefactions, shocks (sometimes traveling with characteristic speed), and constant states. The shocks found in this work are proper or generalized Lax shock waves. The solutions we found are L1-continuous with respect to the initial data. Waves involving only two fluids often take part in three-phase flow Riemann solutions; this is the basis of a useful tool (the wedge construction) to obtain shocks separating states in distinct two-phase regimes having a common fluid. This tool is similar to fractional flow theory, or Oleinik's convex construction. In this investigation, the wave curve method from the theory of conservation laws is combined with numerical calculations.
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