Oscillatory forcing of flow through porous media. Part 2. Unsteady flow

Abstract

Numerical computations are employed to study the phenomenon of oscillatory forcing of flow through porous media. The Galerkin finite element method is used to solve the time-dependent Navier–Stokes equations to determine the unsteady velocity field and the mean flow rate subject to the combined action of a mean pressure gradient and an oscillatory body force. With strong forcing in the form of sinusoidal oscillations, the mean flow rate may be reduced to 40% of its unforced steady-state value. The effectiveness of the oscillatory forcing is a strong function of the dimensionless forcing level, which is inversely proportional to the square of the fluid viscosity. For a porous medium occupied by two fluids with disparate viscosities, oscillatory forcing may be used to reduce the flow rate of the less viscous fluid, with negligible effect on the more viscous fluid. The temporal waveform of the oscillatory forcing function has a significant impact on the effectiveness of this technique. A spike/plateau waveform is found to be much more efficient than a simple sinusoidal profile. With strong forcing, the spike waveform can induce a mean axial flow in the absence of a mean pressure gradient. In the presence of a mean pressure gradient, the spike waveform may be employed to reverse the direction of flow and drive a fluid against the direction of the mean pressure gradient. Owing to the viscosity dependence of the dimensionless forcing level, this mechanism may be employed as an oscillatory filter to separate two fluids of different viscosities, driving them in opposite directions in the porous medium. Possible applications of these mechanisms in enhanced oil recovery processes are discussed.