Numerical Aspects Related to the Dynamic Update of Anisotropic Permeability Field During the Transport of Nanoparticles in the Subsurface

Abstract

Nanoparticles are particles that are between 1 and 100 nanometers in size. They present possible dangers to the environment due to the high surface to volume ratio, which can make the particles very reactive or catalytic. Furthermore, rapid increase in the implementation of nanotechnologies has released large amount of the nanowaste into the environment. In the last two decades, transport of nanoparticles in the subsurface and the potential hazard they impose to the environment have attracted the attention of researchers. In this work, we use numerical simulation to investigate the problem regarding the transport phenomena of nanoparticles in anisotropic porous media. We consider the case in which the permeability in the principal direction components will vary with respect to time. The interesting thing in this case is the fact that the anisotropy could disappear with time. We investigate the effect of the degenerating anisotropy on various fields such as pressure, porosity, concentration and velocities.