Case TH2: the initial frozen inclusion

This is the first benchmark case with the full system of equations.

Initial conditions correspond to a fully saturated porous medium with a frozen inclusion (-5°C) within a temperate surrounding (5°C):

Boundary conditions are for the left boundary imposed positive temperature (5°C) and zero temperature gradient for the other limits (zero heat conductive fluxes). Water transfer boundary conditions are uniform flow from left (inflow) to right (outflow) as sketched below

The evolution of the system consists of a progressive degradation of the initial frozen zone due to conduction and heat advection (through-flow of warmer water). The evolution of the system is quicker for large head gradients leading to strong effect of heat advection. The influence is illustrated on the evolution of temperature profiles along the main longitudinal axis of the system for the case without water flow (thermal degradation solely due to conduction) and for a head gradient of 0.06 (characteristic thermal plume). After a threshold simulation time, the temperature of the initial frozen inclusion rises above 0°C and the colder temperature field is advected to the right of the domain.

The whole information related with Benchmark Case TH2 (including parameter spread sheet, performance measures) is provided in pdf form (Version 2.1, 18/02/2015). Please consider as well some more recent additional information and modifications provided in th2_3_parameter_sheet_complement.pdf (11 May 2015).

The results are now published and available as data file from the results page