A Multipoint Flux Mixed Finite Element Method

We develop a mixed finite element method for single phase flow in porous media that reduces to cell-centered finite differences on quadrilateral and simplicial grids and performs well for discontinuous full tensor coefficients. Motivated by the multipoint flux approximation method where subedge fluxes are introduced, we consider the lowest order Brezzi-Douglas-Marini (BDM) mixed finite element method. A special quadrature rule is employed that allows for local velocity elimination and leads to a symmetric and positive definite cell-centered system for the pressures. Theoretical and numerical results indicate second-order convergence for pressures at the cell centers and first-order convergence for subedge fluxes. Second-order convergence for edge fluxes is also observed computationally if the grids are sufficiently regular.