Dual porosity fracture flow and transport

Abstract

In rock masses where fracture flow greatly exceeds flow through the rock matrix, the matrix provides a storage porosity which needs to be considered for transient flow, and for solute transport. This paper presents a dual‐porosity, single permeability approach for evaluation of flow and transport in fractured rock. The fracture network flow approach is based on a generic matrix block similar to the method of Warren and Root (1963), applied to realistic fracture geometries. The solute transport approach is based on a probabilistic concept of matrix diffusion as a process of Brownian motion, implemented using a probabilistic particle tracking technique.