Solid-fluid two-phase flows, where the solid volume fraction is large either by geometry or by population (as in slurry flows), are ubiquitous in nature and industry. The interaction between the fluid and the suspended solids, in such flows, are too strongly coupled rendering the assumption of a single-way interaction (flow influences particle motion alone but not vice-versa) invalid and inaccurate. Most commercial flow solvers do not account for twoway interactions between fluid and immersed solids. The current state-of-art is restricted to two-way coupling between spherical particles (of very small diameters, such that the particlediameter to the characteristic flow domain length scale ratio is less than 0.01) and flow. These solvers are not suitable for solving several industrial slurry flow problems such as those of hydrates which is crucial to the oil-gas industry and rheology of slurries, flows in highly constrained geometries like microchannels or sessile drops that are laden with micro-PIV beads at concentrations significant for two-way interactions to become prominent. It is therefore necessary to develop direct numerical simulation flow solvers employing rigorous two-way coupling in order to accurately characterise the flow profiles between large immersed solids and fluid. It is necessary that such a solution takes into account the full 3D governing equations of flow (Navier-Stokes and continuity equations), solid translation (Newton’s second law) and solid rotation (equation of angular momentum) while simultaneously enabling interaction at every time step between the forces in the fluid and solid domains. This thesis concerns with development and rigorous validation of a 3D solid-fluid solver based on a novel variant of immersed-boundary method (IBM). The solver takes into account full two-way fluid-solid interaction with 6 degrees-of-freedom (6DOF). The solid motion solver is seamlessly integrated into the Gerris flow solver hence called Gerris Immersed Solid Solver (GISS). The IBM developed treats both fluid and solid in the manner of “fluid fraction” such that any number of immersed solids of arbitrary geometry can be realised. Our IBM method also allows transient local mesh adaption in the fluid domain around the moving solid boundary, thereby avoiding problems caused by the mesh skewness (as seen in common mesh-adaption algorithms) and significantly improves the simulation efficiency. The solver is rigorously validated at levels of increasing complexity against theory and experiment at low to moderate flow Reynolds number. At low Reynolds numbers (Re 1) these include: the drag force and terminal settling velocities of spherical bodies (validating translational degrees of freedom), Jeffrey’s orbits tracked by elliptical solids under shear flow (validating rotational and translational degrees of freedom) and hydrodynamic interaction between a solid and wall. Studies are also carried out to understand hydrodynamic interaction between multiple solid bodies under shear flow. It is found that initial distance between bodies is crucial towards the nature of hydrodynamic interaction between them: at a distance smaller than a critical value the solid bodies cluster together (hydrodynamic attraction) and at a distance greater than this value the solid bodies travel away from each other (hydrodynamic repulsion). At moderately high flow rates (Re O(100)), the solver is validated against migratory motion of an eccentrically placed solid sphere in Poisuelle flow. Under inviscid conditions (at very high Reynolds number) the solver is validated against chaotic motion of an asymmetric solid body. These validations not only give us confidence but also demonstrate the versatility of the GISS towards tackling complex solid-fluid flows. This work demonstrates the first important step towards ultra-high resolution direct numerical simulations of solid-fluid flows. The GISS will be available as opensource code from February 2015.

Relative permeabilities for three-phase flow are commonly predicted from two-phase flow measurements using empirical models. These models are usually tested against available steady state data. However, the oil flow is unsteady state during various production stages such as gas injection after water flood. Accurate measurement of oil permeability([subscript ro]) during unsteady tertiary gas flood is necessary to study macroscopic oil displacement rate under micro scale events including double drainage, coalescence and reconnection, bulk flow and film drainage. We measure the three-phase oil relative permeability by conducting unsteady-state drainage experiments in a 0.8m water-wet sandpack. We find that when starting from capillary-trapped oil, k[subscript ro] starts high and decreases with a small change in oil saturation, and shows a strong dependence on both the flow of water and the water saturation, contrary to most models. The observed flow coupling between water and oil is stronger in three-phase flow than two-phase flow, and cannot be observed in steady-state measurements. The results suggest that the oil is transported through moving gas/oil/water interfaces (form drag) or momentum transport across stationary interfaces (friction drag). We present a simple model of friction drag which compares favorably to the experimental data. We also solve the creeping flow approximation of the Navier-Stokes equation for stable wetting and intermediate layers in the corner of angular capillaries by using a continuity boundary condition at the layer interface. We find significant coupling between the condensed phases and calculate the generalized mobilities by solving co-current and counter-current flow of wetting and intermediate layers. Finally, we present a simple heuristic model for the generalized mobilities as a function of the geometry and viscosity ratio. To identify the key parameter controlling the measured excess oil flow during tertiary gasflood, we also conduct simultaneous water-gas flood tests where we control water relative permeability and let water saturation develop naturally. The measured data and pore scale calculations indicate that viscous coupling can not explain completely the observed flow coupling between oil and water. We conclude that the rate of water saturation decrease, which controls the pore scale mechanisms including double drainage, reconnection, and film drainage significantly influences the rate of oil drainage during tertiary gas flood. Finally, we present a simple heuristic model for oil relative permeability during tertiary gas flood, and also explain how Stone I and saturation-weighted interpolation should be used to predict the permeability of mobilized oil during transient tertiary gasflood. / text

Cette thèse propose un algorithme efficace pour la simulation numérique des interactions houle-structure avec des solveurs CFD bi-phasiques. L'algorithme est basé sur le couplage de la théorie potentielle et des équations bi-phasiques de Navier-Stokes. C'est une extension de la méthode Spectral Wave Explicit Navier-Stokes Equations (SWENSE) pour les solveurs CFD bi-phasiques avec une technique de capture d'interface. Dans cet algorithme, la solution totale est décomposée en une composante incidente et une composante complémentaire. La partie incidente est explicitement obtenue avec des méthodes spectrales basées sur la théorie des écoulements potentiels ; seule la partie complémentaire est résolue avec des solveurs CFD, représentant l'influence de la structure sur les houles incidentes. La décomposition assure la précision de la cinématique des houles incidentes quel que soit le maillage utilisé parles solveurs CFD. Une réduction significative de la taille du maillage est attendue dans les problèmes typiques des interactions houle structure. Les équations sont présentées sous trois formes : la forme conservative, la forme non conservative et la forme Ghost of Fluid Method. Les trois versions d'équations sont implémentées dans OpenFOAM et validées par une série de cas de test. Une technique d'interpolation efficace pour reconstruire la solution des houles irrégulières donnée par la méthode Higher-Order Spectral (HOS) sur le maillage CFD est également proposée. / This thesis proposes an efficient algorithm for simulating wave-structure interaction with two-phase Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solvers. The algorithm is based on the coupling of potential wave theory and two phase Navier-Stokes equations. It is an extension of the Spectral Wave Explicit Navier-Stokes Equations (SWENSE) method for generalized two-phase CFD solvers with interface capturing techniques. In this algorithm, the total solution isdecomposed into an incident and acomplementary component. The incident solution is explicitly obtained with spectral wave models based on potential flow theory; only the complementary solution is solved with CFD solvers, representing the influence of the structure on the incident waves. The decomposition ensures the accuracy of the incident wave’s kinematics regardless of the mesh in CFD solvers. A significant reduction of the mesh size is expected in typical wave structure interaction problems. The governing equations are given in three forms: the conservative form, the non conservative form, and the Ghost of Fluid Method (GFM) form. The three sets of governing equations are implemented in OpenFOAM and validated by a series of wave-structure interaction cases. An efficient interpolation technique to map the irregular wave solution from a Higher-Order Spectral (HOS) Method onto the CFD grid is also proposed.