Groundwater II

Mehrphasenstrmungen
Multiphase Flow
Fritz Stauffer,
Institute of Environmental Engineering, ETH Zrich
FS 2011

Groundwater II Multiphase flow

Capillary zone
unsaturated zone
Piezometer

Capillary
zone

Groundwater table

Vol. water content

Water
pressure
p

Saturated zone
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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

Two-phase flow
At the same time:
Interconnected water phase
Interconnected air phase

Volumetric water content w [L3/L3]:

Volume of water per unit volume of porous medium

w: n
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n: Porosity [-]
Groundwater II Multiphase flow

Darcy law for the water phase

Index w
For constant water density w

pw
v w = K w (Sw ) z +

w g

vw: Specific flux of water [L/T]

pw: Water pressure [M L-1 T-2]
Kw: Hydraulic conductivity of water, Kw(Sw) [L/T]
Sw: Saturation of water phase Sw=w/n [-]
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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

Darcy law for the air phase

Index a
For constant air density a

pa
v a = K a ( Sa ) z +

a g

va: spezific air flux of [L/T]

pa: Air pressure [M L-1 T-2]
Ka: Conductivity for air, Ka(Sa) [L/T]
flow
: Saturation of airGroundwater
phaseII Multiphase
Sa=a/n
SFSa2011

Condition:
[-]

Sw+ Sa=15

Generalized Darcy law

For variable density of water and air

vw =

k w (Sw )

va =

k a ( Sa )

[ pw wg ]

[ pa a g ]

k: Permeability [L2]
-1 L-1flow
Groundwater
Multiphase
: Dynamic viscosity
[MII T
]

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Mass balance for water and

air phase
Without considering mass exchange between phases
Without sources and sinks

( n Sw w )
( w v w ) =
t
( n Sa a )
( a v a ) =
t
t: Time [T]

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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

Mass balance for water and

air phase
Darcy law inserted:

pw
S w
K w ( S w ) z +
= n
w g
t

pa
S a
K a ( S a ) z +
= n
a g
t

S w + Sa =1

Non-linear diffential equation of second order

4 variables: Sw, Sa, pw, pa;
3 equations:
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1 relation
needed: Groundwater II Multiphase
Sfloww(pw, pa)

If influence of air phase on water

flow is disregarded
No friction losses in air flow considered
pa=0

pw
S w
K w ( S w ) z +
= n
w g
t

Richards equation:

pw
S w
pw
K w ( S w ( pw ) ) z +
=
n
p
(
)

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Groundwater II Multiphase
flow
9

g
p
t
w
w

Water retention curve

Assume: Water is wetting phase towards
solid material (controlled by wetting angle)
Interface water-air is curved
Local radius of curvature depends on
pressure difference pc at interface for
hydrostatic conditions due to mechanical
equilibrium
pc: capillary pressure
a

pc = pa - pw
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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

10

Water retention curve

Discontinuity of pressure at the interface
Pressure on concave side is larger than on convex side
Laplace equation of capillarity:

pc = pa - pw = wa

1 1
+
R1 R2

R1
R2
R1

R1, R2: Principal radii of curvature (orthogonal sections)

wa: Interfacial tension (0.0729 N/m for water-air)

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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

11

Capillary pressure-pore radius

Concept
Consider one capillary
Assume spherical interface
2 wa
cos
pc =
r

pc/(wg)

w
r

FS: Wetting
angle
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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

12

Water retention curve

Saturation Sw is essentially a function of
capillary pressure pc
Sw(pc) is to be determined experimentally
in general
Usually it is assumed that Sw(pc) is identical
for hydrostatic conditions and for steadystate and transient flow conditions
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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

13

90

Water
retention
curve

80
70
60

Sand packing
Different curves for
drainage und
imbibition
Hysteresis effect!

hcpc (cm)

50
40

Drainage

30
20

Imbibition

10
0
0

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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

0.5

Sw

14

Water retention curve: Models

Approach of Brooks und Corey (1966):
S w,e =

S w S w, r
1 S w, r

S w,e = 1;

pb
= ; pc pb
pc
0 pc pb

Sw,e: Effective saturation [-]

Sw,r: Residual saturation [-]
pb: Air-entry capillary press. [M L-1T-2]
Multiphase flow
: FS 2011
Pore distributionGroundwater
indexII [-]

pc

pb
0

Sw,r

Sw

15

Water retention curve: Models

Approach of van Genuchten (1980):
m

S w ,e =

S w S w,r
1 S w,r

=
;
n
1 + pc
g
w

pc

pc 0

, n und m : Parameters
Usually: m=1-1/n
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0
Groundwater II Multiphase flow

Sw,r

Sw

16

Hysteresis in Water retention curve

Relation Sw(pc) is not unique.
Dependent on history of imbibition and/or
drainage cycles.
Single pore can exhibit same capillary pressure
for water filled and dry conditions. The water
content can be different for same capillary
pressure.
During imbibition air bubbles can be trapped
(insular air).
For drainage pores can remain water saturated.
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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

17

Hysteresis in Water retention curve

Sand packing

0.8

0.7

0.7

0.6

0.6

0.5

0.5

1. Drainage
2. Drainage
Imbibition

0.4

hc (m)

hc (m)

0.8

0.4

0.3

0.3

0.2

0.2

Incl. primary
wetting0.1curves

0.1

0
0

0.5

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1
Groundwater II Multiphase flow

0.5
S

1
18

Hydraulic conductivity
Approach of Brooks und Corey (1966):

=3+2/

K w ( S w ) = K w, sat S w,e ;

Approach of van Genuchten (1980):

K w ( S w ) = K w, sat S

1/ 2
w,e

1 (1 S

1/ m m
w,e

; m=1-1/n

Hysteresis effect in Kw(Sw): exists, but it is relatively

small.
However it may
be important in Kw(pc).
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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

19

Hydraulic conductivity
Sand packing
1

Kr=K(Sw)/Ksat

0.8
1. Drainage
2. Drainage
Imbibition

0.6
Kr

Relative
hydraulic
conductivity

0.4
0.2
0
0

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0.2

0.4

Groundwater II Multiphase flow

0.6
Sw

0.8

1
20

Numerical solution

Finite difference method of FD

Finite element method FE
Finite volume method FV

Differential equation
for unsaturated flow:
Parameters:
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pw
pw
S
( pw )
( K w ( pw ) z +
=n
w g
pw
t

K w ( S w ( pc ) ) ;

S w ( pc ) ;

pc = pa pw ;

S w
K w ( S w ( pc ) )
(
p
)
w
Groundwater II Multiphase flow
pw

pa = 0
21

Numerical solution
Initial condition
Boundary conditions
System of linear equations
Solve linear equation system

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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

22

Numerical solution
10

Example Infiltration:

t'=1
9
t'=10

Initial condition: hydrostatic

Length of column =10 hb

hb = pb/wg

Lower boundary impermeable

z'

t'=20

Infiltration rate N=0.1 Ksat

Brooks-Corey-Par.: =2, Sr=0, Smax=1

t'=30

t'=50
t'=40

Result S(z,t) dimensionless:

1

z
z '=
hb
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t K sat
t '=
n hb

n: Porosity

0
0.0

Groundwater II Multiphase flow

0.5
S

23

1.0

Numerical solution
Infiltration into
layered sand packing:
Inf.-rate = 0.082 mm/s
Ksat,fine = 0.23 mm/s
Ksat,coarse = 0.73 mm/s

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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

24 1986
Stauffer and Dracos,

Infiltration front after 10 min

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Infiltration front after 30 min

Groundwater II Multiphase flow

25

Stauffer and Dracos, 1986

Multiphase flow
Existence of several non-mixing fluid phases
Ex.: Water air mineral oil
Solid in contact with two fluids:
Fluid 1

Fluid 2

s,1

1,2

s,2

fest
Mechanical equilibrium, if: 1,2 cos = s,1 - s,2 Youngs law

1,2:
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s,1:

Interfacial tension between fluids 1 und 2

Groundwater
II Multiphase
flow solid and fluid 1
Interfacial
tension
between

26

Multiphase flow
No equilibrium, if:

1,2 cos < s,1 - s,2

Fluid 2 displaces fluid 1 from solid surface

Fluid 2 is wetting; fluid 1 is non-wetting
Ex. Water-Air-Quartz system: Water is wetting
phase, air is non-wetting phase
Wetting angle may show hysteresis effect
Interfacial tension may be altered by
contamination, e.g., by dissolved organic
substances.
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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

27

Wetting hierarchy
If several fluid phases are present
One phase is wetting, one phase is non-wetting, the
remaining phases are ambivalent, wetting-non-wetting
Ex.: For mineral solid (e.g., quartz sand) water is wetting, air
is non-wetting, oil is wetting if water is absent and oil is nonwetting if air is absent.

Organic
surface

Mineral
surface
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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

a)

b)

28

c)

Multiphase flow
A fluid phase gets immobile, if the
saturation is smaller than the residual
saturation
The residual saturation of mineral oil
may be very small, if water and air are
present in the pore.
Flux equations and mass balance equations are similar to
equations for two phase flow.
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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

29

Multiphase flow
Relation between capillary pressure and fluid content is
analogue to two-phase flow.
2 1,2
pc =
cos a1,2, s
r
pc=pa -pw

pc=po -pw
a

pc=pa-po
o
a

w
0

pbwa

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Sw

pbwo

0Groundwater II Multiphase flow

Sw

o
0

pboa
So

30

Static distribution of light fluid

a < o < w

e.g. Mineral oil

z

po

Air (a)

P2

Oil (o)

pw

ho
pb

hw
P1

Water (w)

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0 Sr

1
Groundwater II Multiphase flow

31

Rough estimate of mineral oil

migration
Phase 1: Cylindrical oil spill, essentially vertical migration
Oil spill
hs
So1

z
H1

R0

t (z)=
Capillary fringe
Groundwater
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n So1

K o ( So1 )

hcwa

z
z1 ( hs ,max / 2 + w hcoa ) ln
+ 1
h

s ,max / 2 + w hcoa
Groundwater II Multiphase flow

32

Rough estimate of mineral oil

migration
Phase 2: Mobile oil plug leaves behind practically immobile trace

H1

Sro1

immobile

So1

mobile

R0
Capillar fringe

hcwa
Groundwater

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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

33

Rough estimate of mineral oil

migration
Phase 3: Mobile oil plug reaches capillary fringe

Sro1
H1
H

So1

H=

Vo
Sro1
H

1
So1 Sro1
n ( So1 Sro1 ) R02

hcwa

Capillary fringe
Groundwater
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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

34

Rough estimate of mineral oil

migration
Phase 4: Mobile oil plug sinks into groundwater (swim condition)

H1

Sro1

HD

So1

zmax

So3

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H o d hcoa o + hcwa w
zmax =
So 3
w o + o
So1 S ro1
hcwa

Groundwater II Multiphase flow

35

Rough estimate of mineral oil

migration
Phase 5: Mainly radial migration within capillary fringe.
Sinking oil goes up and leaves behind immobile trace
HS h S z S
2
Rmax
= R02 1 + o1 d coa o1 max ro 3
w hcoa S ro 2

Sro1
So2
zmax

SSo2
o1

So2

whcoa

dhcoa

Sro3
R0

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maxflow
Groundwater II Multiphase

36

Rough estimate of mineral oil

migration
Phase 6: Migration within capillary fringe in the flow direction of
groundwater until all mineral oil is immobile (slow process)
Sro1
S
o1S ro2
Sro3

zmax

whcoa

R0
Rmax

L(y)

Additional:
Influence of water
table fluctuations

2
2 ( So 2 S ro 2 ) Rmax
y2
L( y ) =
S ro 2

fr R0 < y Rmax
y
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Rmax
Groundwater II Multiphase flow

37

Static distribution of heavy

fluid
a < w < n

E.g., chlorinated
hydrocarbon CHC
z

Water (w)

pb
P1

hw
hn
CKW
(n)
CHC (n)
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Sr

pn
z=0

pw

1
Groundwater
II Multiphase flow

38

Infiltration of dense fluid

Migration in groundwater is highly influenced by heterogeneities

Chlorinated hydrocarbon

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Groundwater II Multiphase flow

39