An effective thermal conductivity model of geological porous media for coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical systems with multiphase flow

The objective of this paper is to present the development of an effective thermal conductivity model for simulation of thermo-hydro-mechanical processes of geological porous media. The Wiener bounds and Hashin–Shtrikman bounds for thermal conductivity of three-phase mixture are introduced first, followed by descriptions of thermal conductivities of gas, water and solid, respectively. The derivation of a new effective thermal conductivity model, in closed form, is then presented. The model considers the combined effects of solid mineral composition, temperature, liquid saturation degree, porosity and pressure on the effective thermal conductivity of porous media, when multiphase flow with phase change is involved. The model strictly obeys the Wiener bounds (for anisotropic media) and Hashin–Shtrikman bounds (for isotropic media) over wide ranges of porosities and saturations, and the predicted results agrees very well with the experimental data for MX80 bentonite, compared with Johansen's method. An experimental benchmark test problem under laboratory conditions for coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical processes of compacted FEBEX bentonite is simulated for validation of the model, and the results show that the model provides improved predictions of the evolution and distribution of temperature, with simpler forms of mathematical functions.