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Using virtual reality and percolation theory to visualize fluid flow in porous media

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Abstract

The study of the fluid flow process through porous media can bring valuable contributions in areas like oil exploration and environmental research. In this work, we propose an interactive tool, named VRFluid, that allows visual interpretation of the three-dimensional data generated by the simulation of the fluid flow the porous media. VRFluid comprises a virtual reality engine that provides stereo visualization of the three-dimensional data, and a simulation engine based on a dynamic percolation method to model the fluid flow. VRFluid is composed of two independent main threads, the percolation simulator and the rendering server, that can operate in parallel as a pipeline. We tested our tool on a region of a mature field database, supervised by geophysicists, and obtained images of the interior of the percolation data, providing important results for the interpretation and cluster formation process.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Engineering and Automation, Federal University of Rio Grande, do Norte, Av. Salgado Filho, s/n BR 101, 59078-900, Natal, RN, Brazil

    Carlos Magno de Lima & Luiz M. G. Gonçalves

  2. Department of Systems Engineering, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rua São Francisco Xavier, 524, 5o andar, Bloco D, 20550-900, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Cristiana Bentes

  3. COPPE-Systems Engineering, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Cidade Universitria, CT, Bloco H, sala 319, 21941-972, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

    Ricardo Farias

Authors
  1. Carlos Magno de Lima
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  2. Luiz M. G. Gonçalves
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  3. Cristiana Bentes
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  4. Ricardo Farias
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Correspondence to Cristiana Bentes.

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de Lima, C.M., Gonçalves, L.M.G., Bentes, C. et al. Using virtual reality and percolation theory to visualize fluid flow in porous media. Geoinformatica 17, 521–541 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10707-012-0168-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10707-012-0168-5

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