Novel Methods for Laboratory Measurement of Transverse Dispersion in Porous Media

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Novel Methods for Laboratory Measurement of
Transverse Dispersion in Porous Media
Peter K. Kitanidis and Craig Criddle, Stanford
University
Objectives
The Cochlea
To develop experimental devices and data-analysis
procedures for the measurement of the dispersion
parameters in isotropic unconsolidated porous
media.
Steady flow
Inject tracer
Measure breakthrough
Shear flow inside the cochlea
results in breakthrough curve with spread
inversely related to transverse dispersion
Why transverse dispersion?
Transverse dispersion coefficients are hard to
measure but are important time scales of
dilution and mixing are inversely proportional to
transverse dispersion coefficients.
From the breakthrough curve, one can infer the
transverse dispersion.