Effects of hot intrusions on pore-fluid flow and heat transfer in fluid-saturated rocks

Chongbin Zhao, Ge Lin, B. E. Hobbs, A. Ord, Yuejun Wang, H. B. Mühlhaus

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

25 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We use the finite element method to solve coupled problems between pore-fluid flow and heat transfer in fluid-saturated porous rocks. In particular, we investigate the effects of both the hot pluton intrusion and topographically driven horizontal flow on the distributions of the pore-flow velocity and temperature in large-scale hydrothermal systems. Since general mineralization patterns are strongly dependent on distributions of both the pore-fluid velocity and temperature fields, the modern mineralization theory has been used to predict the general mineralization patterns in several realistic hydrothermal systems. The related numerical results have demonstrated that: (1) The existence of a hot intrusion can cause an increase in the maximum value of the pore-fluid velocity in the hydrothermal system. (2) The permeability of an intruded pluton is one of the sensitive parameters to control the pore-fluid flow, heat transfer and ore body formation in hydrothermal systems. (3) The maximum value of the pore-fluid velocity increases when the bottom temperature of the hydrothermal system is increased. (4) The topographically driven flow has significant effects on the pore-fluid flow, temperature distribution and precipitation pattern of minerals in hydrothermal systems. (5) The size of the computational domain may have some effects on the pore-fluid flow and heat transfer, indicating that the size of a hydrothermal system may affect the pore-fluid flow and heat transfer within the system.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2007-2030
Number of pages24
JournalComputer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering
Volume192
Issue number16-18
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Apr 2003
Externally publishedYes

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