Author(s)

J.P. Du Plessis & G.P.J. Diedericks

Abstract

Contaminant dispersion in isotropic porous media J.P. Du Plessis, G.P.J. Diedericks Department of Applied Mathematics, University of ABSTRACT A preliminary study towards the qualitative and quantitative prediction of con- taminant dispersion in porous media is reported. Based on volume averaging and the subsequent introduction of pore-scale models, the goal is to determine the dispersion coefficients quantitatively in terms of known physical quantities namely porosity, pore scale lengths and microstructure. INTRODUCTION The study of aquifer pollution by solute contaminants necessitates a very thor- ough understanding of tracer dispersion in porous media. Literature searches quite often reveal confusion around the actual sources of dispersion and also sometimes on the definitions of the dispersion coefficients. Also the use of very advanced numerical methods are nowadays seriously hampered by the lack of transport equations which describe the underlying physics adequately [1].

Keywords