Pore-network extraction using discrete Morse theory: Preserving the topology of the pore space.

Pore-scale modeling based on the 3D structural information of porous materials has enormous potential in assessing physical properties beyond the capabilities of laboratory methods. Such capabilities are pricey in terms of computational expenses, and this limits the applicability of the direct simulations to a small volume and requires high-performance computational resources, especially for multiphase flow simulations. The only pore-scale technique capable of dealing with large representative volumes of porous samples is pore-network (PNM) based modeling.