NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF FORCED CONVECTION IN OIL SANDS USING LATTICE BOLTZMANN METHOD

Lattice Boltzmann method is used to simulate forced convection in oil sands (low permeable porous geometries). Fluid flows through a sandstone look alike square geometry with left wall of the geometry kept at higher temperature compared to other walls. Investigation is carried out to study influence of increased temperature on flow properties by observing the variation in velocity and temperature profiles for various permeability and porosity values, which were varied to match the geometrical properties of oil sands. Boundary conditions and the relaxation parameter are suitably defined to achieve convergence for low values of permeability. Simulation was carried out at low Reynolds number, which however, can be extended to higher values of Reynolds number.