Project Details
Projekt
Modeling and analysis of the movement of fluid-fluid interfaces ín porous media coupled with free flow
Applicant
Professor Dr.-Ing. Rainer Helmig
Subject Area
Hydrogeology, Hydrology, Limnology, Urban Water Management, Water Chemistry, Integrated Water Resources Management
Term
from 2008 to 2015
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 66234063
In this subproject, we focus on the modeling and interpretation of evaporation from porous media under the influence of atmospheric processes, such as wind and radiation. Within the first project phase, we have developed an REV-scale model concept which allows the coupling of a laminar single-phase free flow and a two-phase porous-medium flow under non-isothermal, compositional flow conditions. An important goal is to extend this concept for turbulent flow conditions in the atmospheric part of the model domain and to include further processes like radiation and infiltration. In this context, different kinds of interfaces may have a strong impact on the transfer fluxes and have to be considered: Fluid-fluid interfaces, interfaces between different porous materials and the interface between unsaturated soil and atmosphere. The vision is to develop a model which can reproduce the complex interaction at these interfaces in detail and which allows the simulation and analysis of sequences of infiltration and evaporation. In this context, the effects of hysteresis at heterogeneous structures and of dynamic capillary pressure on the transfer fluxes and the fluid front evolution will be explored. The model will allow to determine and extend the limits of common state-of-the-art models and to improve the predictability of evaporation rates. Furthermore, different scenarios will be analyzed with respect to the required model complexity aiming at a model reduction and an improved modeling on the field scale.
DFG Programme
Research Units
Participating Persons
Professor Dr.-Ing. Manfred Krafczyk; Professor Dr. Jan Vanderborght
