Separate-phase model and its lattice Boltzmann algorithm for liquid-vapor two-phase flows in porous media.

Abstract

In this article, we formulate a set of the separate-phase governing equations at the representative-elementary-volume scale and develop its double-distribution function lattice Boltzmann (LB) algorithm to describe liquid-vapor two-phase flows with or without phase change in porous media. Different from those previous studies, the mathematical description in this article involves the Darcy force, viscous force, and pressure gradient, and the resulting LB simulations can well describe two-phase flows and mass transfer throughout porous media under the compounding effects of these forces. The LB algorithm was validated by simulating single-phase flows in porous media. Its results are in good agreement with those available analytical solutions. We also applied it to model water flows through a semi-infinite porous region bounded by a heated solid wall, where liquid-vapor phase change takes place. The numerical simulations recover the previous results in the limit of the zero Darcy number. Significantly, it reveals much richer two-phase flow and mass transfer characteristics in porous media adjacent to solid walls. The separate-phase model and its lattice Boltzmann algorithm in this article are effective means to gain more profound and clearer understandings of complex two-phase transport processes in a porous system.