Finite element simulation of nonlinear viscous fingering in miscible displacements with anisotropic dispersion and nonmonotonic viscosity profiles

• DOI: 10.1007/s004660050390
• Publication Date: 2002-08-25T05:09:23Z
• Authors: A. L. G. A. Coutinho; J. L. D. Alves
• Keywords: Viscous fingering

In this work parallel finite element techniques for the simulation of nonlinear viscous fingering in miscible displacements are addressed. The governing equations are approximated in space by equal order elements. The resulting semi-discrete equations are approximated in time by a block-iterative predictor-multicorrector algorithm. Feedback control theory is used for time step selection. The linear systems of equations at each block-iteration are solved with parallel element-by-element iterative techniques. Numerical simulations in different physical situations, involving anisotropic dispersion and a nonmonotonic viscosity law are shown.