Modeling Flow of Shear Dependent non-Newtonian Fluids in Porous Medium Systems

Abstract:

Shear dependent non-Newtonian fluids, or generalized Newtonian fluids, appear in many industrial, biological, and geological processes, and have been an increasing focus of research for the last several decades. Many of these processes involve flow in porous medium systems that are not well characterized, requiring modeling methods which allow accurate simulation with little information. A relationship has been proposed to calculate the hydraulic resistance of generalized Newtonian fluids, allowing their simulation at the macroscale using rheological parameters of the fluid and system parameters which are easily accessible from experiments and microscale simulation. An investigation into the sensitivity of this model to input parameters was conducted, including an uncertainty analysis using both body-centered cubic array, as well as a random sphere pack system. Additionally, an investigation into how different numerical methods, such as the use of Cartesian or triangulated meshes, may impact the model was carried out. Such impacts are quantified by using the hydraulic resistance model to simulate flow at the macroscale for a one-dimensional system of layers of porous media, using system parameters calculated from each set of microscale simulations. This work will contribute to future methods of macroscale simulation of generalized Newtonian fluids.