Integrating a compressible multicomponent two-phase flow into an existing reactive transport simulator

Abstract : This work aims to incorporate compressible multiphase flow into the conventional reactive transport framework using an operator splitting approach. This new approach would allow us to retain the general paradigm of the flow module independent of the geochemical processes and to model complex multi-phase chemical systems, conserving the versatile structure of conventional reactive transport. The phase flow formulation is employed to minimize the number of mass conservation nonlinear equations arising from the flow module. Applying appropriate equations of state facilitated precise descriptions of the compressible multicomponent phases, their thermodynamic properties and relevant fluxes. The proposed flow coupling method was implemented in the reactive transport software HYTEC. The entire framework preserves its flexibility for further numerical developments. The verification of the coupling was achieved by modeling a problem with a self-similar solution. The simulation of a 2D CO 2-injection problem demonstrates the pertinent physical results and computational efficiency of this method. The coupling method was employed for modeling injection of acid gas mixture in carbonated reservoir.