On Full-Tensor Permeabilities of Porous Media from Numerical Solutions of the Navier-Stokes Equation

A numerical method is proposed to compute full-tensor permeability of porous media without artificial simplification. Navier-Stokes (N-S) equation and Darcy's law are combined to design these numerical experiments. This method can successfully detect the permeability values in principle directions of the porous media and the anisotropic degrees. It is found that the same configuration of porous media may possess isotropic features at lower Reynolds numbers while manifesting anisotropic features at higher Reynolds numbers due to the nonlinearity from convection. Anisotropy becomes pronounced especially when convection is dominant.