On the Scaling of Transport Phenomena at a Monotonously Changing Hydraulic Conductivity Field

Yaniv Edery, Shaul Sorek

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Monotonously stratified porous medium, where the layered medium changes its hydraulic conductivity with depth, is present in various systems like tilled soil and peat formation. In this study, the flow pattern within a monotonously stratified porous medium is explored by deriving a non-dimensional number, (Formula presented.), from the macroscopic Darcian-based flow equation. The derived (Formula presented.) theoretically classifies the flow equation to be hyperbolic or parabolic, according to the hydraulic head gradient length scale, and the hydraulic conductivity slope and mean. This flow classification is explored numerically, while its effect on the transport is explored by Lagrangian particle tracking (LPT). The numerical simulations show the transition from hyperbolic to parabolic flow, which manifests in the LPT transition from advective to dispersive transport. This classification is also applied to an interpolation of tilled soil from the literature, showing that, indeed, there is a transition in the transport. These results indicate that in a monotonously stratified porous medium, very low conducting (impervious) formations may still allow unexpected contamination leakage, specifically for the parabolic case. This classification of the (Formula presented.) to the flow and transport pattern provides additional insight without solving the flow or transport equation only by knowing the hydraulic conductivity distribution.

Original languageEnglish
Article number904
JournalEntropy
Volume26
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Nov 2024

Keywords

  • flow and transport through a monotonously stratified porous medium
  • Lagrangian particle tracking (LPT)
  • stochasticity and dispersion of transport through a monotonously stratified porous medium

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Information Systems
  • Mathematical Physics
  • Physics and Astronomy (miscellaneous)
  • General Physics and Astronomy
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering

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