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Transport processes in the subsurface are coupled with the heterogeneity of the porous structure. Obtaining an accurate description of mass transport in such media at all time scales remains a crucial task, as the subsurface is strongly impacted by human activity. Spreading of pollutants in the transient but also in the asymptotic regime, as well as the time to reach a critical location (e.g. aquifer, well) significantly depend on the underlying heterogeneity of the permeability field. Moreover, in the case of solute retention, transport is also characterized by local exchange kinetics that depend on the local aquifer properties. Consequently, exchange (retention) times are expected to be spatially heterogeneous. In this work we focus on the influence of spatially heterogeneous permeability and exchange times on the transient and asymptotic transport regimes and provide a parametric study. To this goal, we simulate in a first part the transport in a two-dimensional heterogeneous medium under spatially varying permeability and mobile–immobile mass transfer parameters. Equations are solved using a Lattice-Boltzmann two-relaxation-time (TRT) algorithm. We assume the following relation between the local permeability K and the local exchange time: τ∝Kγ. Taking into account this relation, we investigate the impact of the Damköhler number (Da, ratio of the advection and exchange time scales), the disorder of the permeability field and the value of the exponent of the coupling function (γ) on the spatial evolution of the concentration field and breakthrough curve. We show that, depending on the parameters (Da, γ, etc.), we can observe transient, non-Fickian dispersion, which is characterized by non-exponential tails of the solute breakthrough curves and a non-linear evolution of the spatial variance of the solute distribution. In a second part, we present a new continuous time random walk (CTRW) model to upscale these transport behaviors. The model is based on a spatial Markov model for particle velocities that couples advective–dispersive transport and heterogeneous mass transfer through a compound Poisson process. The upscaled model can be fully parameterized by the statistics of permeability and the hydraulic gradient (with no fitting parameter), that is, in terms of medium and flow characteristics. The results of the CTRW model fully capture the non-Fickian transient transport regimes both for the breakthrough curves and spatial concentration variance. In the longtime limit, as expected from the central limit theorem, the CTRW model predicts normal, Fickian behavior. Finally we show, that the time to reach the asymptotic regimes in heterogeneous media (e.g. heterogeneous exchange times) is parameter dependent and in average is two orders of magnitude larger than for the respective homogeneous case. To summarize, the coupling between the heterogeneous permeability field and the local mass transfer properties can strongly influence transient and asymptotic transport regimes and potentially explain experimentally observed non-Gaussian behaviors., M.D. acknowledges the support of the Spanish Research Agency (10.13039/501100011033) and the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through the grants CEX2018-000794-S and PID2019-106887GB-C31 (HydroPore).

The behavior of shear-oscillated amorphous materials is studied using a coarse-grained model. Samples are prepared at different degrees of annealing and then subject to athermal and quasistatic oscillatory deformations at various fixed amplitudes. The steady-state reached after several oscillations is fully determined by the initial preparation and the oscillation amplitude, as seen from stroboscopic stress and energy measurements. Under small oscillations, poorly annealed materials display shear-annealing, while ultra-stabilized materials are insensitive to them. Yet, beyond a critical oscillation amplitude, both kind of materials display a discontinuous transition to the same mixed state composed by a fluid shear-band embedded in a marginal solid. Quantitative relations between uniform shear and the steady-state reached with this protocol are established. The transient regime characterizing the growth and the motion of the shear band is also studied., 10 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in The Journal of Chemical Physics

The flow through a capillary tube with non-constant radius and where bubbles of yield stress fluid are injected is strongly non-linear. In particular below a finite yield pressure drop, $P_y$, flow is absent, while a singular behaviour is expected above it. In this paper we compute the yield pressure drop statistics and the mean flow rate in two cases: (i) when a single bubble is injected, (ii) when many bubbles are randomly injected in the fluid., 12 pages, 8 figures

International audience; In this work, we studied experimentally and numerically the pressure–flow rate relationship for yield stress fluids in porous media. We developed and validated 3D numerical simulations of the velocity field via a lattice Boltzmann method based on the TRT scheme, and a specific experimental setup allowing yield stress fluids to flow in a closed-loop system to obtain stable rheological properties over a wide range of flow rates (4 decades). The porous medium studied experimentally is a sandstone. The flow properties were also simulated on a regular sphere packing and a random sphere packing as well as on a 3D geometry of a sandstone obtained by x-ray tomography. These different geometries allow highlighting the role of the heterogeneity of the pore structure on the flow properties. All results are expressed as the flow rate ˜Q versus the difference of the pressure gradient to the critical pressure (Δ˜P−Δ˜Pc); Pc defines the pressure below which there is no flow. We observed both numerically and experimentally three specific scaling regimes, already identified by Talon and Bauer [Eur. Phys. J. E 36, 139 (2013)] for a Bingham fluid in 2D porous media. We also evidenced the existence of two critical pressures: the “true” critical pressure ˜Pc defined as the pressure below which there is no flow and the “pseudo” critical pressure threshold ˜P∞c determined by fitting the data in the high-flow-rate regime. We show that the “true” critical pressure is always lower than the “pseudo” one in heterogeneous porous media and can be equal only in the case of regular porous structures. We explain these observations using an energy minimization principle.

The flow of non-Newtonian fluids is ubiquitous in many applications in the geological and industrial context. We focus here on yield stress fluids (YSF), i.e. a material that requires minimal stress to flow. We study numerically the flow of yield stress fluids in 2D porous media on a macroscopic scale in the presence of local heterogeneities. As with the microscopic problem, heterogeneities are of crucial importance because some regions will flow more easily than others. As a result, the flow is characterized by preferential flow paths with fractal features. These fractal properties are characterized by different scale exponents that will be determined and analyzed. One of the salient features of these results is that these exponents seem to be independent of the amplitude of heterogeneities for a log-normal distribution. In addition, these exponents appear to differ from those at the microscopic level, illustrating the fact that, although similar, the two scales are governed by different sets of equations.

We study non-inertial flows of single-phase yield stress fluids along uneven/rough-walled channels, e.g. approximating a fracture, with two main objectives. First, we re-examine the usual approaches to providing a (nonlinear) Darcy-type flow law and show that significant errors arise due to self-selection of the flowing region/fouling of the walls. This is a new type of non-Darcy effect not previously explored in depth. Second, we study the details of flow as the limiting pressure gradient is approached, deriving approximate expressions for the limiting pressure gradient valid over a range of different geometries. Our approach is computational, solving the two-dimensional Stokes problem along the fracture, then upscaling. The computations also reveal interesting features of the flow for more complex fracture geometries, providing hints about how to extend Darcy-type approaches effectively.

We report on numerical studies of avalanches of an autocatalytic reaction front in a porous medium. The front propagation is controlled by an adverse flow resulting in upstream, static, or downstream regimes. In an earlier study focusing on front shape, we identified three different universality classes associated with this system by following the front dynamics experimentally and numerically. Here, using numerical simulations in the vicinity of the second-order transition, we identify an avalanche dynamics characterized by power-law distributions of avalanche sizes, durations, and lateral extensions. The related exponents agree well with the quenched-Kardar-Parisi-Zhang theory, which describes the front dynamics. However, the geometry of the propagating front differs slightly from that of the theoretical one. We show that this discrepancy can be understood in terms of the nonquasistatic correction induced by the finite front velocity.

International audience; Dispersion of a passive tracer in a tube has been extensively studied in the case of Newtonian fluids since the pioneer work of Taylor (1953). However, the influence of more complex rheological behavior on the transport has only be scarcely investigated. Non-Newtonian fluids are increasingly used in the industry and transport in this type of fluid merits therefore thorough investigations. An example of industrial application is Enhanced Oil Recovery, that is based on the injection of non-Newtonian fluids as polymers or surfactant solutions in porous media, which are then submitted to dispersion phenomena.This work deals with transport of a passive tracer in shear thinning fluids with and without yield stress whose constitutive behaviors are representative of a large number of industrial fluids. We focus on transport in capillary tubes, essential for the understanding of dispersion in porous media. Transport is investigated at different time scales by solving the advection–diffusion equation using a Two-Relaxation-Time Lattice–Boltzmann method. We also derived an analytical expression of the Taylor dispersion coefficient for a large range of fluid rheologies. Dispersion coefficients of all fluids described by the Herschel–Bulkley model can now be determined. Analytical and numerical results are compared and very good accordance is obtained.We discuss the characteristic time scales of the transport before reaching steady state as a function of fluid rheology and Péclet number. We show that the time to reach the dispersive regime is nearly independent of the fluid rheology whereas the effective dispersion coefficient is a function of the rheological parameters.We also present the displacement distribution of the tracer molecules (propagators) as a function of time and show that they are strongly conditioned by the fluid rheology. Indeed, propagators give valuable information on the temporal evolution of the concentration profile towards the stationary Taylor regime.

In this article, we propose a simple model to understand the critical behavior of path opening during flow of a yield stress fluid in porous media as numerically observed by Chevalier and Talon (2015). This model can be mapped to the problem of a contact line moving in an heterogeneous field. Close to the critical point, this line presents an avalanche dynamic where the front advances by a succession of waiting time and large burst events. These burst events are then related to the non-flowing (i.e. unyielded) areas. Remarkably, the statistics of these areas reproduce the same properties as in the direct numerical simulations. Furthermore, even if our exponents seem to be close to the mean field universal exponents, we report an unusual bump in the distribution which depends on the disorder. Finally, we identify a scaling invariance of the cluster spatial shape that is well fit, to first order, by a self-affine parabola.

International audience; Self-sustained reaction fronts in a disordered medium subject to an external flow display self-affine roughening, pinning and depinning transitions. We measure spatial and temporal fluctuations of the front in $1+1$ dimensions, controlled by a single parameter, the mean flow velocity. Three distinct universality classes are observed, consistent with the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) class for fast advancing or receding fronts, the quenched KPZ class (positive-qKPZ) when the mean flow approximately cancels the reaction rate, and the negative-qKPZ class for slowly receding fronts. Both quenched KPZ classes exhibit distinct depinning transitions, in agreement with the theory.

In this paper, we numerically investigate the statistical properties of the nonflowing areas of Bingham fluid in two-dimensional porous media. First, we demonstrate that the size probability distribution of the unyielded clusters follows a power-law decay with a large size cutoff. This cutoff is shown to diverge following a power law as the imposed pressure drop tends to a critical value. In addition, we observe that the exponents are almost identical for two different types of porous media. Finally, those scaling properties allow us to account for the quadratic relationship between the pressure gradient and velocity.

This work focuses on the numerical solution of the Stokes-Brinkman equation for a voxel-type porous-media grid, resolved by one to eight spacings per permeability contrast of 1 to 10 orders in magnitude. It is first analytically demonstrated that the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) and the linear-finite-element method (FEM) both suffer from the viscosity correction induced by the linear variation of the resistance with the velocity. This numerical artefact may lead to an apparent negative viscosity in low-permeable blocks, inducing spurious velocity oscillations. The two-relaxation-times (TRT) LBM may control this effect thanks to free-tunable two-rates combination Λ. Moreover, the Brinkman-force-based BF-TRT schemes may maintain the nondimensional Darcy group and produce viscosity-independent permeability provided that the spatial distribution of Λ is fixed independently of the kinematic viscosity. Such a property is lost not only in the BF-BGK scheme but also by "partial bounce-back" TRT gray models, as shown in this work. Further, we propose a consistent and improved IBF-TRT model which vanishes viscosity correction via simple specific adjusting of the viscous-mode relaxation rate to local permeability value. This prevents the model from velocity fluctuations and, in parallel, improves for effective permeability measurements, from porous channel to multidimensions. The framework of our exact analysis employs a symbolic approach developed for both LBM and FEM in single and stratified, unconfined, and bounded channels. It shows that even with similar bulk discretization, BF, IBF, and FEM may manifest quite different velocity profiles on the coarse grids due to their intrinsic contrasts in the setting of interface continuity and no-slip conditions. While FEM enforces them on the grid vertexes, the LBM prescribes them implicitly. We derive effective LBM continuity conditions and show that the heterogeneous viscosity correction impacts them, a property also shared by FEM for shear stress. But, in contrast with FEM, effective velocity conditions in LBM give rise to slip velocity jumps which depend on (i) neighbor permeability values, (ii) resolution, and (iii) control parameter Λ, ranging its reliable values from Poiseuille bounce-back solution in open flow to zero in Darcy's limit. We suggest an "upscaling" algorithm for Λ, from multilayers to multidimensions in random extremely dispersive samples. Finally, on the positive side for LBM besides its overall versatility, the implicit boundary layers allow for smooth accommodation of the flat discontinuous Darcy profiles, quite deficient in FEM.

A non-newtonian fluid is a fluid which relation between it's shear rate and the stress under which it is put, is not linear. In a porous medium, the stress imposed to the fluid depends on the imposed pressure, but also on the pores size, and therefore on the macroscopic scale permeability. Some fluids have a rheology such that the fluid show a change of behaviour reaching a yield stress. If the pore size is random, then the fluid will present heterogeneous regime changes in the medium. The flow will then show a first regime where the whole fluid will be under the threshold, a regime where the whole fluid will be far above the threshold, and an intermediate regime for which both rheologies coexists. We are interested in intermediate regime for the flow of non-newtonian fluids in macroscopic porous media, and study it with numerical simulations. More particularly, we look at the flow of a Bingham fluid and that of a Carreau fluid. The Bingham fluid doesn't flow under a yield stress. Under the threshold, it behaves as a solid. Beyond, it's shear-rate/stress relation is an affine law. Carreau fluids have a shear-rate/stress relation that change regime between that of a newtonian fluid, and a power law. The macroscopic scale study is done simulating a Darcy-Brinkman law in a heterogeneous permeability field. We use for our simulations the lattice-Boltzmann method, on a regular node grid, and more specifically Irina Ginzburg two relaxation-time scheme. For each fluid, we study the flow-pressure relationship, as well as the geometric properties and the multi-scale properties in the fluid regions in the same flow regime (clusters), properties such as their size and shape. We also link these geometrical properties to the percolation theory, which studies the behaviour of randomly opening node maps and predicts fractal properties., Un fluide non-newtonien est un fluide dont la relation entre son taux de déformation et la contrainte qui lui est imposé n'est pas linéaire. Dans un milieu poreux, la contrainte imposée au fluide dépend de la pression imposée mais aussi de la taille des pores, et donc de la perméabilité à l'échelle macroscopique. Certains fluides peuvent avoir une rhéologie qui présente un changement à partir d'un seuil en contrainte. Si la taille des pores est aléatoire, le fluide va alors changer de régime de façon hétérogène dans le milieu. L'écoulement pourra alors présenter un premier régime où tout le fluide est en dessous du seuil, un régime où tout le fluide est au-dessus du seuil, et un régime intermédiaire pour lequel les deux types de rhéologie coexistent. Nous nous intéressons à ce régime intermédiaire pour des écoulements de fluide non-newtonien en milieu poreux macroscopique, étudiés par des simulations. Plus particulièrement, nous regardons l'écoulement d'un fluide de Bingham et celui d'un fluide de Carreau. Le fluide de Bingham ne s'écoule qu'à partir d'une contrainte seuil. En dessous du seuil, il se comporte comme un solide. Au-delà, sa relation taux de déformation/contrainte suis une loi affine. Les fluides de Carreau ont une relation taux de déformation/contrainte qui change de régime entre une loi linéaire et une loi de puissance. L'étude à l'échelle macroscopique se fait en simulant une loi de Darcy-Brinkman dans un champ de perméabilité hétérogène. Nous utilisons pour nos simulations la méthode de Boltzmann sur réseau, avec une grille de nœuds régulière, plus particulièrement le schéma à deux temps de relaxation d'Irina Ginzburg. Pour chaque fluide, nous regardons la relation débit-pression, ainsi que les propriétés géométriques des différents régimes d'écoulement. Nous caractérisons plus particulièrement les propriétés multi-échelles des régions dans un le même régime d'écoulement (clusters), telles que leur taille ou leur forme. Nous faisons aussi le lien entre ces propriétés géométriques et la théorie de la percolation, qui étudie le comportement de cartes de nœuds s'ouvrant aléatoirement et qui prédit des propriétés fractales.

A non-newtonian fluid is a fluid which relation between it's shear rate and the stress under which it is put, is not linear. In a porous medium, the stress imposed to the fluid depends on the imposed pressure, but also on the pores size, and therefore on the macroscopic scale permeability. Some fluids have a rheology such that the fluid show a change of behaviour reaching a yield stress. If the pore size is random, then the fluid will present heterogeneous regime changes in the medium. The flow will then show a first regime where the whole fluid will be under the threshold, a regime where the whole fluid will be far above the threshold, and an intermediate regime for which both rheologies coexists. We are interested in intermediate regime for the flow of non-newtonian fluids in macroscopic porous media, and study it with numerical simulations. More particularly, we look at the flow of a Bingham fluid and that of a Carreau fluid. The Bingham fluid doesn't flow under a yield stress. Under the threshold, it behaves as a solid. Beyond, it's shear-rate/stress relation is an affine law. Carreau fluids have a shear-rate/stress relation that change regime between that of a newtonian fluid, and a power law. The macroscopic scale study is done simulating a Darcy-Brinkman law in a heterogeneous permeability field. We use for our simulations the lattice-Boltzmann method, on a regular node grid, and more specifically Irina Ginzburg two relaxation-time scheme. For each fluid, we study the flow-pressure relationship, as well as the geometric properties and the multi-scale properties in the fluid regions in the same flow regime (clusters), properties such as their size and shape. We also link these geometrical properties to the percolation theory, which studies the behaviour of randomly opening node maps and predicts fractal properties.; Un fluide non-newtonien est un fluide dont la relation entre son taux de déformation et la contrainte qui lui est imposé n'est pas linéaire. Dans un milieu poreux, la contrainte imposée au fluide dépend de la pression imposée mais aussi de la taille des pores, et donc de la perméabilité à l'échelle macroscopique. Certains fluides peuvent avoir une rhéologie qui présente un changement à partir d'un seuil en contrainte. Si la taille des pores est aléatoire, le fluide va alors changer de régime de façon hétérogène dans le milieu. L'écoulement pourra alors présenter un premier régime où tout le fluide est en dessous du seuil, un régime où tout le fluide est au-dessus du seuil, et un régime intermédiaire pour lequel les deux types de rhéologie coexistent. Nous nous intéressons à ce régime intermédiaire pour des écoulements de fluide non-newtonien en milieu poreux macroscopique, étudiés par des simulations. Plus particulièrement, nous regardons l'écoulement d'un fluide de Bingham et celui d'un fluide de Carreau. Le fluide de Bingham ne s'écoule qu'à partir d'une contrainte seuil. En dessous du seuil, il se comporte comme un solide. Au-delà, sa relation taux de déformation/contrainte suis une loi affine. Les fluides de Carreau ont une relation taux de déformation/contrainte qui change de régime entre une loi linéaire et une loi de puissance. L'étude à l'échelle macroscopique se fait en simulant une loi de Darcy-Brinkman dans un champ de perméabilité hétérogène. Nous utilisons pour nos simulations la méthode de Boltzmann sur réseau, avec une grille de nœuds régulière, plus particulièrement le schéma à deux temps de relaxation d'Irina Ginzburg. Pour chaque fluide, nous regardons la relation débit-pression, ainsi que les propriétés géométriques des différents régimes d'écoulement. Nous caractérisons plus particulièrement les propriétés multi-échelles des régions dans un le même régime d'écoulement (clusters), telles que leur taille ou leur forme. Nous faisons aussi le lien entre ces propriétés géométriques et la théorie de la percolation, qui étudie le comportement de cartes de nœuds s'ouvrant aléatoirement et qui prédit des propriétés fractales.