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Model ID: 657

Buoyant Darcy Flow: The Elder Problem

This model of buoyancy flow driven by salt concentrations is a benchmark problem originally posed for heat flow by Elder (1967) and recast for solute transport by Voss and Souza (1987). It has been used to benchmark numerous density flow codes including SEAWAT (Guo and Langevin) and SUTRA (Voss).

In the model, there is fresh water in porous media with no subsurface flow occurring. The water is in the presence of a salt source. The salt concentration in the fresh water increases until buoyancy flow results and convection cells develop. The model tracks the flow field and solute concentrations for 20 years.

This model is built using the Darcy's law and the Solute Transport application modes of the Earth Science Module. To implement the model, the user adds a new term to the da matrix in equation system settings. In this way it is an advanced model.

HYDROLOGY: This model of buoyancy flow driven by salt concentrations is a benchmark problem originally posed for heat flow by Elder (1967). The results shows concentration distribution in the porous media over time.

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