Upscaling of two-phase porous media flow based on fluid morphology

Multiphase flow through porous media is challenging to simulate as the fluid-fluid and fluid-solid interfaces have a strong influence on the flow behavior. However, how strong this influence is and how it affects the flow, are depending on, among other things, the capillary number and the viscosity ratio. In this project we apply upscaling from pore to REV scale by taking the evolving fluid-fluid interface and fluid morphology from experimental data into account. This way, we can derive upscaled models valid for different flow regimes. The fluid morphology of the experimental data will be characterized in collaboration with PN 1-4. Based on this characterization and its connection to capillary number, viscosity ratio and contact angle, a mathematical pore-scale model including the fluid morphology is formulated. These models are then upscaled to REV scale using homogenization. Through the upscaling we obtain a data-integrated REV-scale model, which relies on solving local cell problems for its effective properties. These cell problems are solved either with a volume-of-fluid method in collaboration with PN 1-2B, or using phase-field models in a code developed as part of the current project. Solutions of the cell problems provide REV-scale information for two-phase flow, where the fluid morphology is explicitly taken into account. This case-specific information enables more efficient and accurate simulations of two-phase flow processes.