Onsager-Symmetry Obeyed in Athermal Mesoscopic Systems: Two-Phase Flow in Porous Media

Mathias Winkler; Magnus Aa. Gjennestad; Dick Bedeaux; Signe Kjelstrup; Raffaela Cabriolu; Alex Hansen

doi:10.3389/fphy.2020.00060

Frontiers in Physics (Apr 2020)

Onsager-Symmetry Obeyed in Athermal Mesoscopic Systems: Two-Phase Flow in Porous Media

Mathias Winkler,
Magnus Aa. Gjennestad,
Dick Bedeaux,
Signe Kjelstrup,
Raffaela Cabriolu,
Alex Hansen

Affiliations

Mathias Winkler: PoreLab, Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Magnus Aa. Gjennestad: PoreLab, Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Dick Bedeaux: PoreLab, Department of Chemistry, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Signe Kjelstrup: PoreLab, Department of Chemistry, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
Raffaela Cabriolu: Department of Physics, Universita' degli Studi di Cagliari, Monserrato, Italy
Alex Hansen: PoreLab, Department of Physics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fphy.2020.00060
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 8

Abstract

Read online

We compute the fluid flow time correlation functions of incompressible, immiscible two-phase flow in porous media using a 2D network model. Given a properly chosen representative elementary volume, the flow rate distributions are Gaussian, and the integrals of time correlation functions of the flows are found to converge to a finite value. The integrated cross-correlations become symmetric, obeying Onsager's reciprocal relations. These findings support the proposal of a non-equilibrium thermodynamic description for two-phase flow in porous media.

Published in Frontiers in Physics

ISSN: 2296-424X (Online)
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Science: Physics
Website: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physics

About the journal

Abstract

Keywords