Explicit numerical simulation of suspension flow with deposition in porous media: influence of local flow field variation on deposition processes predicted by trajectory methods

Pore-scale identification of residual morphology and genetic mechanisms of nano emulsified vegetable oil in porous media using 3D X-ray microtomography

The application of emulsified vegetable oil (EVO) has attracted widespread attention in environmental remediation. Residual morphology is an important factor affecting its migration and mass transfer. However, proper identification of the EVO residual morphology at pore-scale has still remained a challenging task. Hence, this study aimed to identify the residual morphology of nanoscale EVO (NEVO) through developing a method combining natural breaks with 3D X-ray microtomography, then further explore the genetic mechanism of each residual morphology to verify the rationality of this method. The results showed that the natural breaks method can effectively classify the residual morphology of NEVO. Four morphologies including cluster, throat, corner, and membrane state were obtained from coarse, medium, and fine sands with a total proportion of 18.3%, 26.2%, and 30.8%. The cluster state was the main residual morphology, accounting for 10.0- 16.2%, then followed by corner-throat state and membrane state. Pore radius, throat radius, and length were confirmed providing sufficient evidences for cluster residues, because these factors determined the connectivity of porous media for the trapping of droplets. Comparison of the theoretical and actual results implied that capillarity coupling pore-throat shape jointly controlled corner and throat residues. Grain surface roughness and specific surface area were the main factors of membrane residue. The different residual morphologies of NEVO identified by the natural breaks method can reasonably explain their magnitude and controlling mechanisms, which in turn confirms the rationality of this method. Although the proportions of each form are related to the experimental conditions, the classification method and mechanism are of great significance for understanding NEVO residues.

Role of low flow and backward flow zones on colloid transport in pore structures derived from real porous media

To examine the relevance of low flow zones and flow vortices to colloid transport in real porous media, lattice-Boltzmann (LB) simulations were combined with X-ray microtomography (XMT) to simulate flow fields in glass beads and quartz sand. Backward flow zones were demonstrated to be widely present in both porous media, with a greater volume fraction in the former relative to the latter porous media. Glass beads in the XMT images were approximated as spheres and their coordinates and radii were extracted to allow reconstruction of pore structures. LB simulations were again performed and the simulated flow fields in the reconstructed pore structures were coupled to a three-dimensional particle tracking algorithm. Particle tracking simulations demonstrated that significant amounts of colloids stayed in the simulated domains for long periods (up to 50 pore volumes). The percentages of colloids with long residence time increased as the depth of the secondary energy minimum increased. The majority of the colloids with long residence time were translated to low flow zones while being associated with grain surfaces via secondary minima. A small fraction of colloids entered low flow zones without being associated with the grains surfaces. Backward flow zones were also found to trap a small fraction of colloids for significantly long time (up to 10 pore volumes). In overall, however, backward flow zones trapped fewer colloids for shorter durations than low flow zones. In summary, this work demonstrates the importance of temporary trapping of colloids by the low flow and backward flow zones in real porous media. This trapping process can explain a number of intriguing experimental observations.

Tracking colloid transport in porous media using discrete flow fields and sensitivity of simulated colloid deposition to space discretization

Advances in pore structure characterization and lattice-Boltzmann (LB) simulations of flow fields in pore spaces are making mechanistic simulations of colloid transport in real porous media a realistic goal. The primary challenge to reach this goal may be the computational demand of LB flow simulations in discretized porous medium domains at an assemblage scale. In this work, flow fields in simple cubic and dense packing systems were simulated at different discretization resolutions using the LB method. The simulated flow fields were incorporated into to a three-dimensional particle tracking model to simulate colloid transport in the two systems. The simulated colloid deposition tended to become asymptotic at a critical discretization resolution (voxel-grain size ratio = 0.01) at groundwater flow regimes for colloids down to submicrometer level under favorable conditions and down to around 1 microm under unfavorable conditions. The average simulated fluid velocities near grain surfaces were extracted to explain the sensitivities of simulated depositions to space discretization under both conditions. At the critical discretization resolution, current computation capacity would allow flow simulations and particle tracking in assemblage porous medium domains. In addition, particle tracking simulations revealed that colloids may be retained in flow vortices under conditions both favorable and unfavorable for deposition. Colloid retention in flow vortices has been proposed only very recently. Here we provide a mechanistic confirmation to this novel retention process.

A correlation for the collector efficiency of Brownian particles in clean-bed filtration in sphere packings by a Lattice-Boltzmann method

In this paper, we develop a new correlation for the clean-bed filter coefficient (lambda0) for Brownian particles, for which diffusion is the main deposition mechanism. The correlation is based on numerical Lattice-Boltzmann (LB) simulations in random packings of spheres of uniform diameter. We use LB methods to solve the Navier-Stokes equation for flow and then the advection-diffusion equation for particle transport. We determine a correlation for an "equivalent" single-collector diffusion efficiency, etaD, so that we can compare our predictions to "true" single-collector correlations stemming from unit-cell modeling approaches. We compared our new correlation to experiments on the filtration of latex particles. For small particle diameters, 50 nm < dp < 300 nm, when gravity and interception are negligible, our correlation for etaD predicts measurements better than unit-cell correlations, which overestimate etaD. The good agreement suggests that the representation of three-dimensional transport pathways in porous media plays an important role when modeling transport and deposition of Brownian particles. To model larger particles, for which gravity and interception are important too, we build a correlation for the overall single-collector efficiency eta0 by adding corresponding etaG and nI terms from unit-cell correlations to our etaD model. The resulting correlation predicts experiments with latex particles of dp > 300 nm well.

Discrete-element method simulations: from micro to macro scales

Many liquid systems encountered in environmental science are often complex mixtures of many components which place severe demands on traditional computational modelling techniques. A meso scale description is required to account adequately for their flow behaviour on the meso and macro scales. Traditional techniques of computational fluid dynamics and molecular simulation are not well suited to tackling these systems, and researchers are increasingly turning to a range of relatively new computational techniques that offer the prospect of addressing the factors relevant to multicomponent multiphase liquids on length- and time-scales between the molecular level and the macro scale. In this category, we discuss the off-lattice techniques of 'smooth particle hydrodynamics' (SPH) and 'dissipative particle dynamics' (DPD), and the grid-based techniques of 'lattice gas' and 'lattice Boltzmann' (LB). We highlight the main conceptual and technical features underpinning these methods, their strengths and weaknesses, and provide a few examples of the applications of these techniques that illustrate their utility.