Non-Darcy Flow Pore Network Simulation: Development and Validation of a 3D Model

This validation study is part of a larger ongoing study to improve flow simulation in three dimensions in porous materials. Obtaining porous flow parameters such as permeability and Forchheimer’s coefficient is time consuming and expensive, and may be very sample dependent. This study is aimed at verifying a simulation technique that predicts flow parameters, including permeability and Forchheimer’s coefficient, by comparing simulation results to empirical results. The simulation technique used performs Monte Carlo trials by using statistical information about pore size distributions to generate random pore networks consisting of pipes and junctions, then simulating flow through the network. The validations have been performed for a packed bed of glass beads and for sandstone. For glass beads the relationship between permeability and Forchheimer’s coefficient follows an empirical relationship known as Ergun’s equation, while sandstone has been compared to measured data for the permeability versus Forchheimer coefficient relationship. The glass bead simulations resulted in a very close match to Ergun’s equation for the permeability versus Forchheimer coefficient. The sandstone simulations showed similar trends to the empirical data for permeability versus Forchheimer coefficient.