Singular value decomposition for single-phase flow and cluster identification in heterogeneous pore networks

Pore networks play a key role in understanding and quantifying flow and transport processes in complex porous media. Realistic pore-spaces may be characterized by singular regions, that is, isolated subnetworks that do not connect inlet and outlet, resulting from unconnected porosity or multiphase configurations. The robust identification of these features is critical for the characterization of network topology and for the solution of the set of linear equations of flow and transport. We propose a robust method based on singular value decomposition to solve for network flow and locate isolated subnetworks simultaneously. The performance of the method is demonstrated for pore networks of different complexity.