scholarly journals Pore-scale simulation of fluid flow and solute dispersion in three-dimensional porous media

2014 ◽  
Vol 90 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo Icardi ◽  
Gianluca Boccardo ◽  
Daniele L. Marchisio ◽  
Tiziana Tosco ◽  
Rajandrea Sethi
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Pore Scale ◽  
Solute Dispersion

SPH as an Inverse Numerical Tool for the Prediction of Diffusive Properties in Porous Media

2007 ◽  
Vol 553 ◽  
pp. 171-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio C.M. Sousa ◽  
Fangming Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Porous Media ◽  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Effective Thermal Conductivity ◽  
Pore Scale ◽  
Relative Arrangement ◽  
Inclusion Shape ◽  
Micro Structures ◽  
Bulk Thermal Conductivity

Heat and mass transfer and fluid flow in porous media are usually characterized by, or associated with, the effective thermal conductivity, the effective mass diffusivity and the permeability, respectively. All these macroscopic quantities are conceptually established on a phenomenological “equivalence” basis. They may contain the influence of porous micro-structures upon the corresponding diffusive process; however, the detailed nature inside the porous medium is lumped and neglected. Pore scale numerical modelling has the potential of providing adequate meso-/micro- scale insight into the transport process in porous medium, as well as obtaining macroscopic properties, which can encompass the complex pore-structure details. Modelling heat/mass transfer and fluid flow in complicated porous micro-structures presents a major challenge to numerical methods due to their multiscale and multiphysics nature. A relatively-novel numerical technique - the meshless Lagrangian-based Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method is thought to be capable of making a significant contribution to this research field. This work deals primarily with the SPH modelling of heat conduction and fluid flow in 2-D isotropic porous media. The porous matrix is formed by randomly including a different component into a base component. Various pore-structures are realized by changing the inclusion shape/size, or the relative arrangement condition between inclusions. Pore-scale heat transfer and fluid flow streams are visualized, and both heat transfer and fluid flow always follow, as expected, the paths of least resistance through the porous structures. In what concerns the effective thermal conductivity, for the porous media with the base component of larger bulk thermal conductivity, the “flexible” EMT model, which can accommodate, to some extent, the influence from the porous micro-structures on the effective thermal conductivity by adjusting the so-called flexible factor ff, gives effective thermal conductivities agreeable to the SPH predictions across the whole composition range if ff is taken to be ~ 4.5; the effective thermal conductivity shows a weak dependence on the inclusion shape/size and the relative arrangement condition between inclusions; however, for porous media with dispersed inclusions, which component has larger bulk thermal conductivity presents a strong effect upon the effective thermal conductivity. The SPH fluid flow simulation results confirm the macroscopic Darcy’s law to be valid only in the creeping flow regime; the dimensionless permeability (normalized by the squared characteristic dimension of the inclusions) is found to have an exponential dependence on the porosity within the intermediate porosity range, and the derived dimensionless permeability /""porosity relation is found to have only a minor dependence on either the relative arrangement condition between inclusions or the inclusion shape/area.

scholarly journals Evaluation of 3D printed microfluidic networks to study fluid flow in rocks

2021 ◽  
Vol 76 ◽  
pp. 50
Author(s):  
Seyed Mahdi Mousavi ◽  
Saeid Sadeghnejad ◽  
Mehdi Ostadhassan
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Transport Phenomena ◽  
Similarity Index ◽  
Flow In Porous Media ◽  
Pore Scale ◽  
Tracer Injection ◽  
Printing Technology ◽  
Digital Light Processing ◽  
3D Printed

Visualizing fluid flow in porous media can provide a better understanding of transport phenomena at the pore scale. In this regard, transparent micromodels are suitable tools to investigate fluid flow in porous media. However, using glass as the primary material makes them inappropriate for predicting the natural behavior of rocks. Moreover, constructing these micromodels is time-consuming via conventional methods. Thus, an alternative approach can be to employ 3D printing technology to fabricate representative porous media. This study investigates fluid flow processes through a transparent microfluidic device based on a complex porous geometry (natural rock) using digital-light processing printing technology. Unlike previous studies, this one has focused on manufacturing repeatability. This micromodel, like a custom-built transparent cell, is capable of modeling single and multiphase transport phenomena. First, the tomographic data of a carbonate rock sample is segmented and 3D printed by a digital-light processing printer. Two miscible and immiscible tracer injection experiments are performed on the printed microfluidic media, while the experiments are verified with the same boundary conditions using a CFD simulator. The comparison of the results is based on Structural Similarity Index Measure (SSIM), where in both miscible and immiscible experiments, more than 80% SSIM is achieved. This confirms the reliability of printing methodology for manufacturing reusable microfluidic models as a promising and reliable tool for visual investigation of fluid flow in porous media. Ultimately, this study presents a novel comprehensive framework for manufacturing 2.5D realistic microfluidic devices (micromodels) from pore-scale rock images that are validated through CFD simulations.

scholarly journals Pore-scale investigation of the displacement fluid mechanics during two-phase flows in natural porous media under the dominance of capillary forces

Georesursy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-12
Author(s):  
Timur R. Zakirov ◽  
Maxim G. Khramchenkov
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Pore Space ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Capillary Forces ◽  
High Temporal Resolution ◽  
Pore Scale ◽  
Two Phase Flows ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Pressure Drops ◽  
Mobile Interfaces

This paper presents the results of numerical simulations of two-phase flows in porous media under capillary forces dominance. For modeling of immiscible two-phase flow, the lattice Boltzmann equations with multi relaxation time operator were applied, and the interface phenomena was described with the color-gradient method. The objective of study is to establish direct links between quantitative characteristics of the flow and invasion events, using high temporal resolution when detecting simulation results. This is one of the few works where Haines jumps (rapid invasion event which occurs at meniscus displacing from narrow pore throat to its wide body) are considered in three-dimensional natural pore space, but the focus is also on the displacement mechanics after jumps. It was revealed the sequence of pore scale events which can be considered as a period of drainage process: rapid invasion event during Haines jump; finish of jump and continuation of uniform invasion in current pore; switching of mobile interfaces and displacement in new region. The detected interface change, along with Haines jump, is another distinctive feature of the capillary forces action. The change of the mobile interfaces is manifested in step-like behavior of the front movement. It was obtained that statistical distributions of pressure drops during Haines jumps obey lognormal law. When investigating the flow rate and surface tension effect on the pressure drop statistics it was revealed that these parameters practically don’t affect on the statistical distribution and influence only on the magnitude of pressure drops and the number of individual Haines jumps.

Fabrication of a Microchannel Device With a Three-Dimensional Pore Network Using a Sacrificial Sugar Template

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haipeng Zhang ◽  
Tomer Palmon ◽  
Seunghee Kim ◽  
Sangjin Ryu
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Pore Structure ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Pore Network ◽  
Compressed Air ◽  
Microfluidic Channels ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Flow Through ◽  
Phase Fluid

Abstract Porous media compressed air energy storage (PM-CAES) is an emerging technology that stores compressed air in an underground aquifer during the off-peak periods, to mitigate the mismatch between energy supplies and demands. Thus, PM-CAES involves repeated two-phase fluid flow in porous media, and ensuring the success of PM-CAES requires a better understanding of repetitive two-phase fluid flow through porous media. For this purpose, we previously developed microfluidic channels that retain a two-dimensional (2D) pore network. Because it was found that the geometry of the pore structure significantly affects the patterns and occupational efficiencies of a non-wetting fluid during the drainage-imbibition cycles, a more realistic microfluidic model is needed to reflect the three-dimensional (3D) nature of pore structures in the underground geologic formation. In this study, we developed an easy-to-adopt method to fabricate a microfluidic device with a 3D random pore network using a sacrificial sugar template. Instead of using a master mold made in photolithography, a sacrificial mold was made using sugar grains so that the mold could be washed away after PDMS curing. First, we made sugar templates with different levels of compaction load, and found that the thickness of the templates decreased as the compaction load increased, which suggests more packing of sugar grains and thus lower porosity in the template. Second, we fabricated PDMS porous media using the sugar template as a mold, and imaged their pore structure using micro computed tomography (micro-CT). Pores within PDSM samples appeared more tightly packed as the compacting force increased. Last, we fabricated a prototype PDMS channel device with a 3D pore network using a sugar template, and visualized flow through the pore network using colored water. The flow visualization result shows that the water was guided by the random pores and that the resultant flow pattern was three dimensional.

scholarly journals The Complexity of Porous Media Flow Characterized in a Microfluidic Model Based on Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy and Micro-PIV

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. A. M. de Winter ◽  
K. Weishaupt ◽  
S. Scheller ◽  
S. Frey ◽  
A. Raoof ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Porous Media ◽  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Laser Scanning Microscopy ◽  
Confocal Laser Scanning ◽  
Confocal Laser ◽  
Pore Scale ◽  
Micro Piv ◽  
Flow Through

Abstract In this study, the complexity of a steady-state flow through porous media is revealed using confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Micro-particle image velocimetry (micro-PIV) is applied to construct movies of colloidal particles. The calculated velocity vector fields from images are further utilized to obtain laminar flow streamlines. Fluid flow through a single straight channel is used to confirm that quantitative CLSM measurements can be conducted. Next, the coupling between the flow in a channel and the movement within an intersecting dead-end region is studied. Quantitative CLSM measurements confirm the numerically determined coupling parameter from earlier work of the authors. The fluid flow complexity is demonstrated using a porous medium consisting of a regular grid of pores in contact with a flowing fluid channel. The porous media structure was further used as the simulation domain for numerical modeling. Both the simulation, based on solving Stokes equations, and the experimental data show presence of non-trivial streamline trajectories across the pore structures. In view of the results, we argue that the hydrodynamic mixing is a combination of non-trivial streamline routing and Brownian motion by pore-scale diffusion. The results provide insight into challenges in upscaling hydrodynamic dispersion from pore scale to representative elementary volume (REV) scale. Furthermore, the successful quantitative validation of CLSM-based data from a microfluidic model fed by an electrical syringe pump provided a valuable benchmark for qualitative validation of computer simulation results. Graphic Abstract

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