Variable-density flow and transport in porous media: approaches and challenges

We review the state of the art in modeling of variable-density flow and transport in porous media, including conceptual models for convection systems, governing balance equations, phenomenological laws, constitutive relations for fluid density and viscosity, and numerical methods for solving the resulting nonlinear multifield problems. The discussion of numerical methods addresses strategies for solving the coupled spatio-temporal convection process, consistent velocity approximation, and error-based mesh adaptation techniques. As numerical models for those nonlinear systems must be carefully verified in appropriate tests, we discuss weaknesses and inconsistencies of current model-verification methods as well as benchmark solutions. We give examples of field-related applications to illustrate specific challenges of further research, where heterogeneities and large scales are important.