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Tail shortening with developing eddies in a rough‐walled rock fracture
Author(s) -
Lee Seung Hyun,
Yeo In Wook,
Lee KangKun,
Detwiler Russell L.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2015gl065116
Subject(s) - eddy , advection , geology , fracture (geology) , flow (mathematics) , fluid dynamics , mechanics , geotechnical engineering , turbulence , physics , thermodynamics
Understanding fluid flow and solute transport in rough‐walled fractures is important in many problems such as geological storage of CO 2 and siting of radioactive waste repositories. The first microscopic observation of fluid flow and solute transport through a rough‐walled fracture was made to assess the evolution of eddies and their effect on non‐Fickian tailing. A noteworthy phenomenon was observed that as the eddy grew, the particles were initially caught in and swirled around within eddies, and then cast back into main flow channel, which reduced tailing. This differs from the conventional conceptual model, which presumes a distinct separation between mobile and immobile zones. Fluid flow and solute transport modeling within the 3‐D fracture confirmed tail shortening due to mass transfer by advective paths between the eddies and the main flow channel, as opposed to previous 2‐D numerical studies that showed increased tailing with growing eddies.