Modelling Fluid Flow and Heat Transport in Fractured Porous Media

Abstract

Flow in porous media is an important and well- researched topic in both academia and the industry. More accurate mathematical models are constantly sought after. Fractures in a porous medium can be an important contributor to the overall dynamics of a porous system, and several conceptual models for fractured porous media has been proposed over the years. We investigate a selection of these models, by starting with the basics of non-fractured porous media. We discuss the effects of fractures, concerning both single-phase fluid flow and heat transport, and review a few different approaches for the modelling of fractured porous media. Three different models, and equivalent continuum model, a dual continuum model and a discrete fracture model, are compared through analysis and numerical experiments. Our simulations show that the equivalent continuum model is unreliable and coming up short to the other two, from which we obtain comparable results.