Electro‐Thermal Subsurface Gas Generation and Transport: Model Validation and Implications

dc.contributor.authorMolnar, Ian
dc.contributor.authorMumford, Kevin
dc.contributor.authorKrol, Magdalena
dc.date.accessioned2020-07-27T14:35:44Z
dc.date.available2020-07-27T14:35:44Z
dc.date.issued2019-06-07
dc.description.abstractGas generation and flow in soil is relevant to applications such as the fate of leaking geologically sequestered carbon dioxide, natural releases of methane from peat and marine sediments, and numerous electro‐thermal remediation technologies for contaminated sites, such as electrical resistance heating. While traditional multiphase flow models generally perform poorly in describing unstable gas flow phenomena in soil, Macroscopic Invasion Percolation (MIP) models can reproduce key features of its behavior. When coupled with continuum heat and mass transport models, MIP has the potential to simulate complex subsurface scenarios. However, coupled MIP‐continuum models have not yet been validated against experimental data and lack key mechanisms required for electro‐thermal scenarios. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to (a) incorporate mechanisms required for steam generation and flow into an existing MIP‐continuum model (ET‐MIP), (b) validate ET‐MIP against an experimental lab‐scale electrical resistance heating study, and (c) investigate the sensitivity of water boiling and gas (steam) transport to key parameters. Water boiling plateaus (i.e., latent heat), heat recirculation within steam clusters, and steam collapse (i.e., condensation) mechanisms were added to ET‐MIP. ET‐MIP closely matched observed transient gas saturation distributions, measurements of electrical current, and temperature distributions. Heat recirculation and cluster collapse were identified as the key mechanisms required to describe gas flow dynamics using a MIP algorithm. Sensitivity analysis revealed that gas generation rates and transport distances, particularly through regions of cold water, are sensitive to the presence of dissolved gases.en_US
dc.identifier.citationWater Resources Research 55.6 (2019): 4630-4647.en_US
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1029/2018WR024095en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10315/37647
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.publisherAmerican Geophysical Unionen_US
dc.rightsThis is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Molnar, I. L., Mumford, K. G., & Krol, M. M. (2019). Electro‐thermal subsurface gas generation and transport: Model validation and implications. Water Resources Research, 55, 4630–464., which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1029/2018WR024095. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. Copyright 2019 American Geophysical Union.en_US
dc.rights.articlehttps://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2018WR024095en_US
dc.rights.journalhttps://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/19447973en_US
dc.rights.publisherhttps://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/en_US
dc.subjectthermal remediationen_US
dc.subjectinvasion percolationen_US
dc.subjectgas flowen_US
dc.subjectsteamen_US
dc.subjectvalidationen_US
dc.subjectdissolved gasesen_US
dc.titleElectro‐Thermal Subsurface Gas Generation and Transport: Model Validation and Implicationsen_US
dc.typeArticleen_US

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