Simulation of the diffusion process in composite porous media by random walks

A new random-walk interpolation scheme was developed to simulate solute transport through composite porous media with different porosities as well as different diffusivities. The significant influences of the abrupt variations of porosity and diffusivity on solute transport were simulated by tracking random walkers through a linear interpolation domain across the heterogeneity interface. The displacements of the random walkers within the interpolation region were obtained explicitly by establishing the equivalence between the Fokker-Planck equation and the advection-dispersion equation. Applications indicate that the random-walk interpolation method can simulate one- and two-dimensional, 2nd-order diffusion processes in composite media without local mass conservation errors. In addition, both the theoretical derivations and the numerical simulations show that the drift and dispersion of particles depend on the type of Markov process selected to reflect the dynamics of random walkers. If the nonlinear Langevin equation is used, the gradient of porosity and the gradient of diffusivity strongly affect the drift displacement of particles. Therefore, random-walking particles driven by the gradient of porosity, the gradient of diffusivity, and the random diffusion, can imitate the transport of solute under only pure diffusion in composite porous media containing abrupt variations of porosity and diffusivity.

Simulation of the diffusion process in composite porous media by random walks

A new random-walk interpolation scheme was developed to simulate solute transport through composite porous media with different porosities as well as different diffusivities. The significant influences of the abrupt variations of porosity and diffusivity on solute transport were simulated by tracking random walkers through a linear interpolation domain across the heterogeneity interface. The displacements of the random walkers within the interpolation region were obtained explicitly by establishing the equivalence between the Fokker-Planck equation and the advection-dispersion equation. Applications indicate that the random-walk interpolation method can simulate one- and two-dimensional, 2nd-order diffusion processes in composite media without local mass conservation errors. In addition, both the theoretical derivations and the numerical simulations show that the drift and dispersion of particles depend on the type of Markov process selected to reflect the dynamics of random walkers. If the nonlinear Langevin equation is used, the gradient of porosity and the gradient of diffusivity strongly affect the drift displacement of particles. Therefore, random-walking particles driven by the gradient of porosity,the gradient of diffusivity, and the random diffusion, can imitate the transport of solute under only pure diffusion in composite porous media containing abrupt variations of porosity and diffusivity.