Mixed and discontinuous finite volume element schemes for the optimal control of immiscible flow in porous media

We introduce a family of hybrid discretisations for the numerical approximation of optimal control problems governed by the equations of immiscible displacement in porous media. The proposed schemes are based on mixed and discontinuous finite volume element methods in combination with the optimise-then-discretise approach for the approximation of the optimal control problem, leading to nonsymmetric algebraic systems, and employing minimum regularity requirements. Estimates for the error (between a local reference solution of the infinite dimensional optimal control problem and its hybrid approximation) measured in suitable norms are derived, showing optimal orders of convergence

Unconditional convergence and optimal error estimates of a Galerkin-mixed FEM for incompressible miscible flow in porous media

In this paper, we study the unconditional convergence and error estimates of a Galerkin-mixed FEM with the linearized semi-implicit Euler time-discrete scheme for the equations of incompressible miscible flow in porous media. We prove that the optimal $L^2$ error estimates hold without any time-step (convergence) condition, while all previous works require certain time-step condition. Our theoretical results provide a new understanding on commonly-used linearized schemes for nonlinear parabolic equations. The proof is based on a splitting of the error function into two parts: the error from the time discretization of the PDEs and the error from the finite element discretization of corresponding time-discrete PDEs. The approach used in this paper is applicable for more general nonlinear parabolic systems and many other linearized (semi)-implicit time discretizations

Unified convergence analysis of numerical schemes for a miscible displacement problem

This article performs a unified convergence analysis of a variety of numerical methods for a model of the miscible displacement of one incompressible fluid by another through a porous medium. The unified analysis is enabled through the framework of the gradient discretisation method for diffusion operators on generic grids. We use it to establish a novel convergence result in $L^\infty(0,T; L^2(\Omega))$ of the approximate concentration using minimal regularity assumptions on the solution to the continuous problem. The convection term in the concentration equation is discretised using a centred scheme. We present a variety of numerical tests from the literature, as well as a novel analytical test case. The performance of two schemes are compared on these tests; both are poor in the case of variable viscosity, small diffusion and medium to small time steps. We show that upstreaming is not a good option to recover stable and accurate solutions, and we propose a correction to recover stable and accurate schemes for all time steps and all ranges of diffusion

An HMM--ELLAM scheme on generic polygonal meshes for miscible incompressible flows in porous media

We design a numerical approximation of a system of partial differential equations modelling the miscible displacement of a fluid by another in a porous medium. The advective part of the system is discretised using a characteristic method, and the diffusive parts by a finite volume method. The scheme is applicable on generic (possibly non-conforming) meshes as encountered in applications. The main features of our work are the reconstruction of a Darcy velocity, from the discrete pressure fluxes, that enjoys a local consistency property, an analysis of implementation issues faced when tracking, via the characteristic method, distorted cells, and a new treatment of cells near the injection well that accounts better for the conservativity of the injected fluid