Nigerian bituminous tar sands are among the world's largest deposits of bitumen and heavy oil. They are estimated to contain 38-40 billion barrels of heavy oil and bitumen, spanning approximately 120 km in length and 4-6 km in breadth. With global commitments to net zero emissions and various energy transition plans, improvements in the recovery methods for heavy oil and bitumen are being sought.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys
August 2009
We study through numerical simulations the dependence of the hydraulic permeability of granular materials on the particle shape and the grain size distribution. Several models of sand are constructed by simulating the settling under gravity of the grains; the friction coefficient is varied to construct packs of different porosity. The size distribution and shapes of the grains mimic real sands.
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