Plume dynamics in Hele-Shaw porous media convection

Robert E Ecke; Scott Backhaus

doi:10.1098/rsta.2015.0420

Plume dynamics in Hele-Shaw porous media convection

Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2016 Oct 13;374(2078):20150420. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2015.0420.

Authors

Robert E Ecke¹, Scott Backhaus²

Affiliations

¹ MPA-CMMS and CNLS, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA ecke@lanl.gov.
² A-1, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA.

Abstract

Mass transport in multi-species porous media is through molecular diffusion and plume dynamics. Predicting the rate of mass transport has application in determining the efficiency of the storage and sequestration of carbon dioxide. We study a water and propylene-glycol system enclosed in a Hele-Shaw cell with variable permeability that represents a laboratory analogue of the general properties of porous media convection. The interface between the fluids, tracked using an optical shadowgraph technique, is used to determine the mass transport rate, the spatial separation of solutal plumes, and the velocity and width characteristics of those plumes. One finds that the plume dynamics are closely related to the mass transport rate.This article is part of the themed issue 'Energy and the subsurface'.

Keywords: convection; plume dynamics; porous media.

Publication types

Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.