Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
4526716 Advances in Water Resources 2009 10 Pages PDF
Abstract
The objective of this work is to explore the use of flow dimensions as a tool for characterizing hydraulic conditions in faulted media. Transient flow is numerically simulated in synthetic vertically-faulted reservoirs. Analysis of the obtained time series following the Generalized Radial Flow (GRF) model displays combined radial and fractional signals with a flow dimension n=1.5. Investigating the transient geometry of the frontal equipotential surface shows that fractional flow occurrence is due to abnormal fault diffusion as a consequence of water supply from the matrix under specific conditions. An original hydrodynamical explanation for fractional flow in vertically faulted media is suggested, along with a reinterpretation of the bilinear regime. It is shown that the GRF theory remains valid in such discontinuum as the fundamental relationship between n and the cross-flow area is satisfied. These results provide insights in the use of the flow dimension as a hydraulic diagnostic tool in faulted media.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences Earth-Surface Processes
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