Optimizing experimental design for coupled porous media flow studies

It is important in specific cases to know if and when coupling occurs during the flow of immiscible fluids in and through porous media. Unless special laboratory design precautions are taken, however, even small errors in the measurement of the experimental variables can adversely camouflage the very effects that are under investigation. Here a novel remedy is proposed that involves the use of a least squares optimization algorithm for the selection of the most favorable constraint conditions to be imposed.