Fluid Flow in the Subsurface

Abstract

This research monograph presents a systematic endeavor to generalize fundamental physical laws related to subsurface fluid flow that are important for a number of contemporary applications, such as recovery of subsurface energy resources, geological disposal of high-level nuclear wastes, CO2 geological sequestration, and groundwater contamination in the vadose zone. The history of discovering these laws is also briefly presented within the context of discussing the ranges in which they are valid. This relatively new endeavor should be of interest to engineers, researchers, and students in the areas of reservoir engineering, hydrogeology, soil physics, and rock mechanics. Darcy’s law is the fundamental law of subsurface fluid flow. For lowpermeability porous media, however, Darcy’s law does not always hold because of the strong fluid–solid interaction.