2025 Volume 81 Issue 16 Article ID: 24-16033
In this study, the pore structure and flow/transport characteristics of dolomite were evaluated by combining the analysis of CT images and numerical modeling. The histogram of the volume of the pore clusters indicated that the relatively smaller clusters are more abundant. In addition, the result of the box-counting method revealed that the pore structure is fractal in 2.76 dimensions. Moreover, by computing semivariograms, it was found that the pore structure is spatially correlated. The variogram data were also fitted to three representative models (Gaussian, exponential, and spherical models). As a result, compared to Gaussian and spherical models, exponential model provided excellent fitting results in terms of the determination coefficient and root mean square error. Numerical modeling of the flow in the constructed pore model showed that the flow velocity field inside the pore exhibits heterogeneity and that dead-end pores exist. The breakthrough curves (BTCs) at the downstream surface obtained from transport modeling exhibited significant tailing as the Peclet number, which indicates the dominance of advection, increased. This was suggested to be due to the effect of dead-end pores.
