Non-Fickian dispersion in porous media : 1. Multiscale measurements using single-well injection withdrawal tracer tests

International audienceWe present a set of single-well injection withdrawal tracer tests in a paleoreef porous reservoir displaying important small-scale heterogeneity. An improved dual-packer probe was designed to perform dirac-like tracer injection and accurate downhole automatic measurements of the tracer concentration during the recovery phase. By flushing the tracer, at constant flow rate, for increasing time duration, we can probe distinctly different reservoir volumes and test the multiscale predictability of the (non-Fickian) dispersion models. First we describe the characteristics, from microscale to meter scale, of the reservoir rock. Second, the specificity of the tracer test setup and the results obtained using two different tracers and measurement methods (salinity-conductivity and fluorescent dye­optical measurement, respectively) are presented. All the tracer tests display strongly tailed breakthrough curves (BTC) consistent with diffusion in immobile regions. Conductivity results, measured over 3 orders of magnitude only, could have been easily interpreted by the conventional mobile-immobile (MIM) diffusive mass transfer model of asymptotic log-log slope of 2. However, the fluorescent dye sensor, which allows exploring much lower concentration values, shows that a change in the log-log slope occurs at larger time with an asymptotic value of 1.5, corresponding to the double-porosity model. These results suggest that the conventional, one-slope MIM transfer rate model is too simplistic to account for the real multiscale heterogeneity of the diffusion-dominant fraction of the reservoir

Effect of co-feeding gas and liquid on mass transfer in a rotor-stator spinning disc reactor

abstract onl

Experimental and modeling study of sorption enhanced catalytic methane reforming to pure hydrogen with in situ carbon dioxide capture

This paper presents an experimental and modeling investigation for a novel technique of low temperature high purity hydrogen production using sorption assisted catalytic methane reforming in a laboratory – scale fixed bed adsorptive reactor. The performance of methane steam reforming is experimentally tested over a newly developed catalyst – sorbent materials. Rh/CeaZr1-aO2 is employed as an efficient low temperature catalyst for steam reforming and autothermal reforming of methane. K-promoted hydrotalcites, Zr-doped K-promoted hydrotalcites, and lithium zirconate are employed as newly developed candidate sorbents for high purity hydrogen production at temperatures lower than 550oC. Experimental and modeled results are compared to the conventional Ni – based catalytic reforming processes. An enhanced methane conversion of 84%, which is the equilibrium conversion is attained using Hydrotalcites/Ni – based sorption enhanced autothermal reforming at operational conditions of 500oC, 4.47 bar, steam/carbon ratio of 6, oxygen/carbon ratio of 0.45 and space velocity of 3071 hr-1. The corresponding hydrogen yield and purity on dry basis are 3.6 and 95%, respectively. The lithium zirconate – based process demonstrated a gain of enhanced methane conversion of 99.5% and dry basis hydrogen purity of 99.5% achieved at the same conditions. The influence of major parameters of steam/carbon, oxygen/carbon, gas and catalyst temperatures, pressure, gas space velocity, and feed contamination is also examined

Transient gas-liquid mass transfer model for liquid films on structured packings

In this work a model is presented which describes the mass transfer through thin liquid films present on structured packings. The model has been derived for two cases: the absorption (or desorption) of a gaseous component into the liquid film and the transfer of the gaseous component through the liquid film to the packing surface where an infinitely fast reaction takes place. These cases have been solved for three bubble geometries: rectangular, cylindrical, and spherical. For Fourier numbers below 0.3, the model corresponds to Higbie's penetration theory for both cases. The Sherwood numbers for cylindrical and spherical bubbles are 20% and 35% higher, respectively, than for rectangular bubbles. In case of absorption and Fourier numbers exceeding 3, the effect of bubble geometry becomes more pronounced. The Sherwood numbers for cylindrical and spherical bubbles now are 55% and 100% higher, respectively, than for rectangular bubbles. In case of infinitely fast reaction at the packing surface, the Sherwood number corresponds to Whitman's film theory (Sh = 1) for all bubble geometries. The model data has also been fitted to engineering correlations. The obtained correlations describe the model with a maximum error less than 4%

The French network of hydrogeological sites H+

1 p.For groundwater issues (potential leakages in waste repository, aquifer management ...), the development of modeling techniques is far ahead of the actual knowledge of aquifers. This raises two fundamental issues: 1) which and how much data are necessary to make predictions accurate enough for aquifer management issues; 2) which models remain relevant to describe the heterogeneity and complexity of geological systems. The French observatory H+ was created in 2002 with the twofold motivation of acquiring a large database for validating models of heterogeneous aquifers, and of surveying groundwater quality evolution in the context of environmental changes. H+ is a network of 4 sites (Ploemeur, Brittany, France; HES Poitiers, France; Cadarache, France; Campos, Mallorca, Spain) with different geological, climatic, and economic contexts. All of them are characterized by a highly heterogeneous structure (fractured crystalline basement for Ploemeur, karstified and fractured limestone for Poitiers, Cadarache and Mallorca), which is far to be taken into account by basic models. Ploemeur is exploited as a tap-water plant for a medium-size coastal city (15,000 inhabitants) for 20 years. Each site is developed for long term investigation and monitoring. They involves a dense network of boreholes, detailed geological and geophysical surveys, periodic campaigns and/or permanent measurements of groundwater flow, water chemistry, geophysical signals (including ground motions), climatic parameter, etc. Several large-scale flow experiments are scheduled per year to investigate the aquifer structure with combined geophysical, hydrogeological, and geochemical instruments. All this information is recorded in a database that has been developed to improve the sustainability and quality of data, and to be used as a collaborative tool for both site researchers and modelers. This project lasts now for 5 years. It is a short time to collect the amount of information necessary to apprehend the complexity of aquifers; but it is already enough to obtain a few important scientific results about the very nature of the flow heterogeneity, the origin and residence time of water elements, the kinetic of geochemical processes, etc. We have also developed new methods to investigate aquifers (in-situ flow measurements, flow experiment designs, groundwater dating, versatile in-situ probes, etc.). This experience aiming at building up long term knowledge appears extremely useful to address critical issues related to groundwater aquifers: the structure and occurrence of productive aquifer in crystalline basement, the assessment of aquifer protection area in the context of highly heterogeneous flow, the biochemical reactivity processes, the long term evolution of both water quantity and quality in the context of significant environmental changes, for instance

Comparison of alternative methodologies for identifying and characterizing preferential flow paths in heterogeneous aquifers

International audienceOne of the main difficulties encountered when characterizing the hydrodynamic properties of a fractured aquifer is to identify the preferential flow paths within it. Different methods may be applied to determine the variability of the permeability at the borehole scale and to image the structure of the main flow zones between boreholes. In this paper, we compare the information obtained from different measurement techniques performed in a set of three 100 m depth wells (well-to-well spacing: 5­10 m) in a fractured crystalline rock setting. Geophysical logging and borehole-wall imaging are used to identify open and closed fractures intersecting the boreholes and their orientation. The comparison with flowmeter and single packer tests shows that few of the fractures interpreted as open from geophysical logs are significantly transmissive. Cross-borehole connectivity is first investigated from single packer tests with pressure monitoring in adjacent boreholes. To determine fracture zone connectivity, we propose a methodology simply based on the variation with packer depth of the ratio of the drawdown in the observation well and the drawdown in the pumping well. The results are compared to the analysis of cross-borehole flowmeter tests. We show that both methods provide consistent results with a similar level of information on connectivity