Wormhole formation in dissolving fractures

Abstract

We investigate the dissolution of artificial fractures with three-dimensional, pore-scale numerical simulations. The fluid velocity in the fracture space was determined from a lattice-Boltzmann method, and a stochastic solver was used for the transport of dissolved species. Numerical simulations were used to study conditions under which long conduits (wormholes) form in an initially rough but spatially homogeneous fracture. The effects of flow rate, mineral dissolution rate and geometrical properties of the fracture were investigated, and the optimal conditions for wormhole formation determined.

to be published in J. Geophys Res

References in corpus (1)

• Fingered growth in channel geometry: A Loewner equation approach

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• Temporal Evolution of Flow in Pore-Networks: From Homogenization to Instability
• Competition is the underlying mechanism controlling viscous fingering and wormhole growth
• Retraction of dissolution front in natural porous media
• How fluid-mechanical erosion creates anisotropic porous media
• Temporal pattern of entropy production induced by reactive infiltration instability in natural porous media
• Path selection during wormhole growth