1
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Ström OE, Beech JP, Tegenfeldt JO. Geometry-Dependent Elastic Flow Dynamics in Micropillar Arrays. MICROMACHINES 2024; 15:268. [PMID: 38398996 PMCID: PMC10893274 DOI: 10.3390/mi15020268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2024] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/25/2024]
Abstract
Regular device-scale DNA waves for high DNA concentrations and flow velocities have been shown to emerge in quadratic micropillar arrays with potentially strong relevance for a wide range of microfluidic applications. Hexagonal arrays constitute another geometry that is especially relevant for the microfluidic pulsed-field separation of DNA. Here, we report on the differences at the micro and macroscopic scales between the resulting wave patterns for these two regular array geometries and one disordered array geometry. In contrast to the large-scale regular waves visible in the quadratic array, in the hexagonal arrays, waves occur in a device-scale disordered zig-zag pattern with fluctuations on a much smaller scale. We connect the large-scale pattern to the microscopic flow and observe flow synchronization that switches between two directions for both the quadratic and hexagonal arrays. We show the importance of order using the disordered array, where steady-state stationary and highly fluctuating flow states persist in seemingly random locations across the array. We compare the flow dynamics of the arrays to that in a device with sparsely distributed pillars. Here, we observe similar vortex shedding, which is clearly observable in the quadratic and disordered arrays. However, the shedding of these vortices couples only in the flow direction and not laterally as in the dense, ordered arrays. We believe that our findings will contribute to the understanding of elastic flow dynamics in pillar arrays, helping us elucidate the fundamental principles of non-Newtonian fluid flow in complex environments as well as supporting applications in engineering involving e.g., transport, sorting, and mixing of complex fluids.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Jonas O. Tegenfeldt
- Division of Solid State Physics, Department of Physics and NanoLund, Lund University, P.O. Box 118, 22100 Lund, Sweden; (O.E.S.); (J.P.B.)
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2
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Beech JP, Ström OE, Turato E, Tegenfeldt JO. Using symmetry to control viscoelastic waves in pillar arrays. RSC Adv 2023; 13:31497-31506. [PMID: 37901264 PMCID: PMC10603618 DOI: 10.1039/d3ra06565k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/31/2023] Open
Abstract
Solutions of macromolecules exhibit viscoelastic properties and unlike Newtonian fluids, they may break time-reversal symmetry at low Reynolds numbers resulting in elastic turbulence. Furthermore, under some conditions, instead of the chaotic turbulence, the result is large-scale waves in the form of cyclic spatial and temporal concentration variations, as has been shown for macromolecular DNA flowing in microfluidic pillar arrays. We here demonstrate how altering the symmetry of the individual pillars can be used to influence the symmetry of these waves. We control the extent of instabilities in viscoelastic flow by leveraging the effects of the symmetry of the pillars on the waves, demonstrating suppressed viscoelastic fluctuations with relevance for transport and sorting applications, or conversely opening up for enhanced viscoelasticity-mediated mixing. The onset of waves, which changes flow resistance, occurs at different Deborah numbers for flow in different directions through the array of triangular pillars, thus breaking the symmetry of the flow resistance along the device, opening up for using the occurrence of the waves to construct a fluidic diode.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jason P Beech
- Division of Solid State Physics, Department of Physics, Lund University, Nano-Lund, Lund University PO Box 118 SE-221 00 Lund Sweden +46 46 222 8063
| | - Oskar E Ström
- Division of Solid State Physics, Department of Physics, Lund University, Nano-Lund, Lund University PO Box 118 SE-221 00 Lund Sweden +46 46 222 8063
| | - Enrico Turato
- Division of Solid State Physics, Department of Physics, Lund University, Nano-Lund, Lund University PO Box 118 SE-221 00 Lund Sweden +46 46 222 8063
| | - Jonas O Tegenfeldt
- Division of Solid State Physics, Department of Physics, Lund University, Nano-Lund, Lund University PO Box 118 SE-221 00 Lund Sweden +46 46 222 8063
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3
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Kumar M, Walkama DM, Ardekani AM, Guasto JS. Stress and stretching regulate dispersion in viscoelastic porous media flows. SOFT MATTER 2023; 19:6761-6770. [PMID: 37641978 DOI: 10.1039/d3sm00224a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/31/2023]
Abstract
In this work, we study the role of viscoelastic instability in the mechanical dispersion of fluid flow through porous media at high Péclet numbers. Using microfluidic experiments and numerical simulations, we show that viscoelastic instability in flow through a hexagonally ordered (staggered) medium strongly enhances dispersion transverse to the mean flow direction with increasing Weissenberg number (Wi). In contrast, preferential flow paths can quench the elastic instability in disordered media, which has two important consequences for transport: first, the lack of chaotic velocity fluctuations reduces transverse dispersion relative to unstable flows. Second, the amplification of flow along preferential paths with increasing Wi causes strongly-correlated stream-wise flow that enhances longitudinal dispersion. Finally, we illustrate how the observed dispersion phenomena can be understood through the lens of Lagrangian stretching manifolds, which act as advective transport barriers and coincide with high stress regions in these viscoelastic porous media flows.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manish Kumar
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, 585 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | - Derek M Walkama
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tufts University, 200 College Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA.
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Tufts University, 574 Boston Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA
| | - Arezoo M Ardekani
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, 585 Purdue Mall, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
| | - Jeffrey S Guasto
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tufts University, 200 College Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA.
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4
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Ström OE, Beech JP, Tegenfeldt JO. Short and long-range cyclic patterns in flows of DNA solutions in microfluidic obstacle arrays. LAB ON A CHIP 2023; 23:1779-1793. [PMID: 36807458 DOI: 10.1039/d2lc01051h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
We observe regular patterns emerging across multiple length scales with high-concentration DNA solutions in microfluidic pillar arrays at low Reynolds numbers and high Deborah numbers. Interacting vortices between pillars lead to long-range order in the form of large travelling waves consisting of DNA at high concentration and extension. Waves are formed in quadratic arrays of pillars, while randomizing the position of the pillar in each unit cell of a quadratic array leads to suppression of the long-range patterns. We find that concentrations exceeding the overlap concentration of the DNA enables the waves, and exploring the behavior of the waves as a function of flow rate, buffer composition, concentration and molecular length, we identify elastic effects as central to the origin of the waves. Our work may not only help increase the low throughput that often limits sample processing in microfluidics, it may also provide a platform for further studies of the underlying viscoelastic mechanisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oskar E Ström
- Division of Solid State Physics, Department of Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
| | - Jason P Beech
- Division of Solid State Physics, Department of Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
| | - Jonas O Tegenfeldt
- Division of Solid State Physics, Department of Physics, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
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5
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Rheological Performance of High-Temperature-Resistant, Salt-Resistant Fracturing Fluid Gel Based on Organic-Zirconium-Crosslinked HPAM. Gels 2023; 9:gels9020151. [PMID: 36826321 PMCID: PMC9956356 DOI: 10.3390/gels9020151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Revised: 01/31/2023] [Accepted: 02/09/2023] [Indexed: 02/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Development of low-cost, high-temperature-resistant and salt-resistant fracturing fluids is a hot and difficult issue in reservoir fluids modification. In this study, an organic zirconium crosslinker that was synthesized and crosslinked with partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) was employed as a cost-effective polymer thickener to synthesize a high-temperature-resistant and salt-resistant fracturing fluid. The rheological properties of HPAM in tap water solutions and 2 × 104 mg/L salt solutions were analyzed. The results demonstrated that addition of salt reduced viscosity and viscoelasticity of HPAM solutions. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation results indicated that, due to electrostatic interaction, the carboxylate ions of HPAM formed an ionic bridge with metal cations, curling the conformation, decreasing the radius of rotation and thus decreasing viscosity. However, optimizing fracturing fluids formulation can mitigate the detrimental effects of salt on HPAM. The rheological characteristics of the HPAM fracturing fluid crosslinking process were analyzed and a crosslinking rheological kinetic equation was established under small-amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS) test. The results of a large-amplitude oscillation shear (LAOS) test indicate that the heating effect on crosslinking is stronger than the shear effect on crosslinking. High-temperature-resistant and shear-resistant experiments demonstrated good performance of fracturing fluids of tap water and salt solution at 200 °C and 180 °C.
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Chen H, Poitzsch ME. Dynamics of Polymers Flowing through Porous Media: Interplay of Solvent Properties, Flow Rates, and Wetting. Macromolecules 2022. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.macromol.2c01902] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hsieh Chen
- Aramco Americas: Aramco Research Center-Boston, Cambridge, Massachusetts02139, United States
| | - Martin E. Poitzsch
- Aramco Americas: Aramco Research Center-Boston, Cambridge, Massachusetts02139, United States
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7
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Hopkins CC, Haward SJ, Shen AQ. Upstream wall vortices in viscoelastic flow past a cylinder. SOFT MATTER 2022; 18:4868-4880. [PMID: 35730936 DOI: 10.1039/d2sm00418f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
We report a novel inertia-less, elastic flow instability for a viscoelastic, shear-thinning wormlike micellar solution flowing past a microcylinder in a channel with blockage ratio BR = 2R/W = 0.5 and aspect ratio α = H/W ≈ 5, where R ≈ 100 μm is the cylinder radius, W is the channel width, and H is the channel height. The instability manifests upstream of the cylinder and changes form with increasing Weissenberg number over the range 0.5 ≲ Wi = Uλ/R ≲ 900, where U is the average flow velocity and λ is the terminal relaxation time of the fluid. Beyond a first critical Wi, the instability begins as a bending of the streamlines near the upstream pole of the cylinder that breaks the symmetry of the flow. Beyond a second critical Wi, small, time-steady, and approximately symmetric wall-attached vortices form upstream of the cylinder. Beyond a third critical Wi, the flow becomes time dependent and pulses with a characteristic frequency commensurate with the breakage timescale of the wormlike micelles. This is accompanied by a breaking of the symmetry of the wall-attached vortices, where one vortex becomes considerably larger than the other. Finally, beyond a fourth critical Wi, a vortex forms attached to the upstream pole of the cylinder whose length fluctuates in time. The flow is highly time dependent, and the cylinder-attached vortex and wall-attached vortices compete dynamically for space and time in the channel. Our results add to the rapidly growing understanding of viscoelastic flow instabilities in microfluidic geometries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cameron C Hopkins
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa, 904-0495, Japan.
| | - Simon J Haward
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa, 904-0495, Japan.
| | - Amy Q Shen
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa, 904-0495, Japan.
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8
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Shende T, Mangal D, Conrad JC, Niasar V, Babaei M. Nanoparticle transport within non-Newtonian fluid flow in porous media. Phys Rev E 2022; 106:015103. [PMID: 35974600 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.106.015103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2021] [Accepted: 06/15/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Control over dispersion of nanoparticles in polymer solutions through porous media is important for subsurface applications such as soil remediation and enhanced oil recovery. Dispersion is affected by the spatial heterogeneity of porous media, the non-Newtonian behavior of polymer solutions, and the Brownian motion of nanoparticles. Here, we use the Euler-Lagrangian method to simulate the flow of nanoparticles and inelastic non-Newtonian fluids (described by Meter model) in a range of porous media samples and injection rates. In one case, we use a fine mesh of more than 3 million mesh points to model nanoparticles transport in a sandstone sample. The results show that the velocity distribution of nanoparticles in the porous medium is non-Gaussian, which leads to the non-Fickian behavior of nanoparticles dispersion. Due to pore-space confinement, the long-time mean-square displacement of nanoparticles depends nonlinearly on time. Additionally, the gradient of shear stress in the pore space of the porous medium dictates the transport behavior of nanoparticles in the porous medium. Furthermore, the Brownian motion of nanoparticles increases the dispersion of nanoparticles along the longitudinal and transverse direction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takshak Shende
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Deepak Mangal
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77004, USA
| | - Jacinta C Conrad
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77004, USA
| | - Vahid Niasar
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
| | - Masoud Babaei
- Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom
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9
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Shakeri P, Jung M, Seemann R. Scaling purely elastic instability of strongly shear thinning polymer solutions. Phys Rev E 2022; 105:L052501. [PMID: 35706259 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.105.l052501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Flow of viscoelastic polymer solutions in curved channels exhibits instability caused by the elastic nature of polymers even at low Reynolds numbers. However, scaling of the onset of this purely elastic instability in semidilute polymer solutions has not been previously reported. Here we experimentally investigate the flow of highly elastic polymer solutions above their overlap concentrations using pressure measurements and particle image velocimetry. We demonstrate that the onset of instability can be scaled by including shear dependent rheological properties of the polymer solutions in the nonlinear stability analysis. As a result, a universal criterion as function of normalized polymer concentration is provided for scaling the onset of purely elastic instability in the semidilute regime regardless of the type and molecular weight of the polymer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pegah Shakeri
- Experimental Physics, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany and Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Michael Jung
- Experimental Physics, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany and Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Ralf Seemann
- Experimental Physics, Saarland University, 66123 Saarbrücken, Germany and Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
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10
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Browne CA, Datta SS. Elastic turbulence generates anomalous flow resistance in porous media. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:eabj2619. [PMID: 34739321 PMCID: PMC8570596 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abj2619] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Accepted: 09/16/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Many energy, environmental, industrial, and microfluidic processes rely on the flow of polymer solutions through porous media. Unexpectedly, the macroscopic flow resistance often increases above a threshold flow rate in a porous medium, but not in bulk solution. The reason why has been a puzzle for over half a century. Here, by directly visualizing flow in a transparent 3D porous medium, we demonstrate that this anomalous increase is due to the onset of an elastic instability in which the flow exhibits strong spatiotemporal fluctuations reminiscent of inertial turbulence, despite the small Reynolds number. Our measurements enable us to quantitatively establish that the energy dissipated by pore-scale fluctuations generates the anomalous increase in the overall flow resistance. Because the macroscopic resistance is one of the most fundamental descriptors of fluid flow, our results both help deepen understanding of complex fluid flows and provide guidelines to inform a broad range of applications.
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11
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Haward SJ, Hopkins CC, Varchanis S, Shen AQ. Bifurcations in flows of complex fluids around microfluidic cylinders. LAB ON A CHIP 2021; 21:4041-4059. [PMID: 34647558 PMCID: PMC8549630 DOI: 10.1039/d1lc00128k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2021] [Accepted: 09/17/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Flow around a cylinder is a classical problem in fluid dynamics and also one of the benchmarks for testing viscoelastic flows. The problem is of wide relevance to understanding many microscale industrial and biological processes and applications, such as porous media and mucociliary flows. In recent years, we have developed model microfluidic geometries consisting of very slender cylinders fabricated in glass by selective laser-induced etching. The cylinder radius is small compared with the channel width, which allows the effects of the stagnation points in the flow to dominate over the effects of squeezing between the cylinder and the channel walls. Furthermore, the cylinders are contained in high aspect ratio microchannels that render the flow field approximately two-dimensional (2D) and therefore conveniently permit comparison between experiments and 2D numerical simulations. A number of different viscoelastic fluids including wormlike micellar and various polymer solutions have been tested in our devices. Of particular interest to us has been the occurrence of a striking, steady-in-time, flow asymmetry that occurs for certain non-Newtonian fluids when the dimensionless Weissenberg number (quantifying the importance of elastic over viscous forces in the flow) increases above a critical value. In this perspective review, we present a summary of our key findings related to this novel flow instability and present our current understanding of the mechanism for its onset and growth. We believe that the same fundamental mechanism may also underlie some important non-Newtonian phenomena observed in viscoelastic flows around particles, drops, and bubbles, or through geometries composed of multiple bifurcation points such as cylinder arrays and other porous media. Knowledge of the instability we discuss will be important to consider in the design of optimally functional lab-on-a-chip devices in which viscoelastic fluids are to be used.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon J Haward
- Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Onna, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan.
| | - Cameron C Hopkins
- Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Onna, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan.
| | - Stylianos Varchanis
- Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Onna, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan.
| | - Amy Q Shen
- Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Onna, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan.
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12
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Raihan MK, Wu S, Song Y, Xuan X. Constriction length dependent instabilities in the microfluidic entry flow of polymer solutions. SOFT MATTER 2021; 17:9198-9209. [PMID: 34590651 DOI: 10.1039/d1sm01325d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Transport phenomena of fluids and particles through contraction and/or expansion geometries have relevance in many applications. Polymer solutions are often the transporter in these processes, giving rise to flow complexities. The separation distance between a contraction and a following expansion in microfluidic entry flow can affect the interplay between the shear and extension force dominated flow regimes, but the process is still little understood. We investigate the rheological responses of such constriction length dependent instabilities with three different polymer solutions and water in planar contraction-expansion microchannels differing only in the constriction length. The viscoelastic polyethylene oxide (PEO) solution is found to exhibit strong constriction length-dependent instabilities in both the contraction and expansion flows. Such a dependence is, however, completely absent from the flow of shear-thinning xanthan gum (XG) solution and Newtonian water. Interestingly, it is only present in the expansion flow of the both shear thinning and viscoelastic polyacrylamide (PAA) solution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahmud Kamal Raihan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0921, USA.
| | - Sen Wu
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0921, USA.
- College of Marine Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, P. R. China.
| | - Yongxin Song
- College of Marine Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, P. R. China.
| | - Xiangchun Xuan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0921, USA.
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13
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Haward SJ, Hopkins CC, Shen AQ. Stagnation points control chaotic fluctuations in viscoelastic porous media flow. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:e2111651118. [PMID: 34521756 PMCID: PMC8463809 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2111651118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Viscoelastic flows through porous media become unstable and chaotic beyond critical flow conditions, impacting widespread industrial and biological processes such as enhanced oil recovery and drug delivery. Understanding the influence of the pore structure or geometry on the onset of flow instability can lead to fundamental insights into these processes and, potentially, to their optimization. Recently, for viscoelastic flows through porous media modeled by arrays of microscopic posts, Walkama et al. [D. M. Walkama, N. Waisbord, J. S. Guasto, Phys. Rev. Lett 124, 164501 (2020)] demonstrated that geometric disorder greatly suppressed the strength of the chaotic fluctuations that arose as the flow rate was increased. However, in that work, disorder was only applied to one originally ordered configuration of posts. Here, we demonstrate experimentally that, given a slightly modified ordered array of posts, introducing disorder can also promote chaotic fluctuations. We provide a unifying explanation for these contrasting results by considering the effect of disorder on the occurrence of stagnation points exposed to the flow field, which depends on the nature of the originally ordered post array. This work provides a general understanding of how pore geometry affects the stability of viscoelastic porous media flows.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon J Haward
- Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan
| | - Cameron C Hopkins
- Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan
| | - Amy Q Shen
- Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan
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14
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15
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A comparative study of clay enriched polymer solutions for effective carbon storage and utilization (CSU) in saline reservoirs. Colloid Polym Sci 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s00396-021-04868-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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16
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Raihan MK, Jagdale PP, Wu S, Shao X, Bostwick JB, Pan X, Xuan X. Flow of Non-Newtonian Fluids in a Single-Cavity Microchannel. MICROMACHINES 2021; 12:836. [PMID: 34357246 PMCID: PMC8306080 DOI: 10.3390/mi12070836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2021] [Revised: 07/15/2021] [Accepted: 07/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Having a basic understanding of non-Newtonian fluid flow through porous media, which usually consist of series of expansions and contractions, is of importance for enhanced oil recovery, groundwater remediation, microfluidic particle manipulation, etc. The flow in contraction and/or expansion microchannel is unbounded in the primary direction and has been widely studied before. In contrast, there has been very little work on the understanding of such flow in an expansion-contraction microchannel with a confined cavity. We investigate the flow of five types of non-Newtonian fluids with distinct rheological properties and water through a planar single-cavity microchannel. All fluids are tested in a similarly wide range of flow rates, from which the observed flow regimes and vortex development are summarized in the same dimensionless parameter spaces for a unified understanding of the effects of fluid inertia, shear thinning, and elasticity as well as confinement. Our results indicate that fluid inertia is responsible for developing vortices in the expansion flow, which is trivially affected by the confinement. Fluid shear thinning causes flow separations on the contraction walls, and the interplay between the effects of shear thinning and inertia is dictated by the confinement. Fluid elasticity introduces instability and asymmetry to the contraction flow of polymers with long chains while suppressing the fluid inertia-induced expansion flow vortices. However, the formation and fluctuation of such elasto-inertial fluid vortices exhibit strong digressions from the unconfined flow pattern in a contraction-expansion microchannel of similar dimensions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mahmud Kamal Raihan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0921, USA; (M.K.R.); (P.P.J.); (S.W.); (J.B.B.)
| | - Purva P. Jagdale
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0921, USA; (M.K.R.); (P.P.J.); (S.W.); (J.B.B.)
| | - Sen Wu
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0921, USA; (M.K.R.); (P.P.J.); (S.W.); (J.B.B.)
- College of Marine Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China;
| | - Xingchen Shao
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA;
| | - Joshua B. Bostwick
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0921, USA; (M.K.R.); (P.P.J.); (S.W.); (J.B.B.)
| | - Xinxiang Pan
- College of Marine Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China;
- Maritime College, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524088, China
| | - Xiangchun Xuan
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634-0921, USA; (M.K.R.); (P.P.J.); (S.W.); (J.B.B.)
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17
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Chen H, Poitzsch ME. Emergent slow dynamics of collapsed polymers flowing through porous media. Phys Rev E 2021; 103:L040501. [PMID: 34005983 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.103.l040501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2020] [Accepted: 04/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Using hydrodynamic simulations, we study the single polymers flowing through model porous media (close-packed colloidal crystal). In good solvent or high flow rates, the polymer transport is similar to gel electrophoresis, with size-dependent sieving for L_{c}/L≲1 and size-independent biased reptation for L_{c}/L≳1 (L_{c} is the polymer contour length and L is the diameter of colloids forming the porous media). Importantly, in bad solvent and low flow rates, the polymers show an extra window of size-dependent velocity for 1≲L_{c}/L≲2, where the polymer transport is controlled by a globule-stretch transition at pore throats, and the transport velocity is much slower than reptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hsieh Chen
- Aramco Services Company: Aramco Research Center-Boston, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
| | - Martin E Poitzsch
- Aramco Services Company: Aramco Research Center-Boston, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA
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18
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Hopkins CC, Haward SJ, Shen AQ. Tristability in Viscoelastic Flow Past Side-by-Side Microcylinders. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2021; 126:054501. [PMID: 33605746 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.126.054501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2020] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Viscoelastic flows through microscale porous arrays exhibit complex path selection and switching phenomena. However, understanding this process is limited by a lack of studies linking between a single object and large arrays. Here, we report experiments on viscoelastic flow past side-by-side microcylinders with variable intercylinder gap. With increasing flow rate, a sequence of two imperfect symmetry-breaking bifurcations forces selection of either one or two of the three possible flow paths around the cylinders. Tuning the gap length through the value where the first bifurcation becomes perfect reveals regions of bistability and tristability in a dimensionless flow rate-gap length phase diagram.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cameron C Hopkins
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan
| | - Simon J Haward
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan
| | - Amy Q Shen
- Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Onna-son, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan
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19
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Wu Z, Zhao K. Taste of time: A porous-medium model for human tongue surface with implications for early taste perception. PLoS Comput Biol 2020; 16:e1007888. [PMID: 32497080 PMCID: PMC7271999 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007888] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2020] [Accepted: 04/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Most sensory systems are remarkable in their temporal precision, reflected in such phrases as “a flash of light” or “a twig snap”. Yet taste is complicated by the transport processes of stimuli through the papilla matrix to reach taste receptors, processes that are poorly understood. We computationally modeled the surface of the human tongue as a microfiber porous medium and found that time-concentration profiles within the papilla zone rise with significant delay that well match experimental ratings of perceived taste intensity to a range of sweet and salty stimuli for both rapid pulses and longer sip-and-hold exposures. Diffusivity of these taste stimuli, determined mostly by molecular size, correlates greatly with time and slope to reach peak intensity: smaller molecular size may lead to quicker taste perception. Our study demonstrates the novelty of modeling the human tongue as a porous material to drastically simplify computational approaches and that peripheral transport processes may significantly affect the temporal profile of taste perception, at least to sweet and salty compounds. Taste perception is an important gateway for food selection, food intake, energy and nutrition balance–as world is facing epidemic of obesity and diabetes. Information conveyed via the taste system provide crucial behavior choices, e.g. in identifying edible and nutritious food source, driving hedonic evaluation and craving, as well as avoiding poisonous substances. Thus, the interest to understand early taste responses is important, not only for basic science, but also for clinical and public health applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenxing Wu
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
| | - Kai Zhao
- Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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20
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Ekanem EM, Berg S, De S, Fadili A, Bultreys T, Rücker M, Southwick J, Crawshaw J, Luckham PF. Signature of elastic turbulence of viscoelastic fluid flow in a single pore throat. Phys Rev E 2020; 101:042605. [PMID: 32422715 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.101.042605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2019] [Accepted: 03/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
When a viscoelastic fluid, such as an aqueous polymer solution, flows through a porous medium, the fluid undergoes a repetitive expansion and contraction as it passes from one pore to the next. Above a critical flow rate, the interaction between the viscoelastic nature of the polymer and the pore configuration results in spatial and temporal flow instabilities reminiscent of turbulentlike behavior, even though the Reynolds number Re≪1. To investigate whether this is caused by many repeated pore body-pore throat sequences, or simply a consequence of the converging (diverging) nature present in a single pore throat, we performed experiments using anionic hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) in a microfluidic flow geometry representing a single pore throat. This allows the viscoelastic fluid to be characterized at increasing flow rates using microparticle image velocimetry in combination with pressure drop measurements. The key finding is that the effect, popularly known as "elastic turbulence," occurs already in a single pore throat geometry. The critical Deborah number at which the transition in rheological flow behavior from pseudoplastic (shear thinning) to dilatant (shear thickening) strongly depends on the ionic strength, the type of cation in the anionic HPAM solution, and the nature of pore configuration. The transition towards the elastic turbulence regime was found to directly correlate with an increase in normal stresses. The topology parameter, Q_{f}, computed from the velocity distribution, suggests that the "shear thickening" regime, where much of the elastic turbulence occurs in a single pore throat, is a consequence of viscoelastic normal stresses that cause a complex flow field. This flow field consists of extensional, shear, and rotational features around the constriction, as well as upstream and downstream of the constriction. Furthermore, this elastic turbulence regime, has high-pressure fluctuations, with a power-law decay exponent of up to |-2.1| which is higher than the Kolmogorov value for turbulence of |-5/3|.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eseosa M Ekanem
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Steffen Berg
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.,Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.,Shell Global Solutions International B.V, 1031HW Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Shauvik De
- Shell India Markets Private Limited, Karnataka 562149, Bangalore, India
| | - Ali Fadili
- Shell Global Solutions International B.V, 1031HW Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Tom Bultreys
- Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.,PProGRess UGCT, Department of Geology, Ghent University, 9000 Gent, Belgium
| | - Maja Rücker
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Jeffrey Southwick
- Shell Global Solutions International B.V, 1031HW Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - John Crawshaw
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
| | - Paul F Luckham
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
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21
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Walkama DM, Waisbord N, Guasto JS. Disorder Suppresses Chaos in Viscoelastic Flows. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2020; 124:164501. [PMID: 32383946 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.124.164501] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2019] [Revised: 12/24/2019] [Accepted: 03/23/2020] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Viscoelastic flows through microstructured geometries transition from steady to time dependent and chaotic dynamics under critical flow conditions. However, the implications of geometric disorder for flow stability are unknown. We measure the onset of spatiotemporal velocity fluctuations for a viscoelastic flow through microfluidic pillar arrays, having controlled variations of geometric disorder. Introducing a small perturbation into the pillar array (∼10% of the lattice constant) delays the onset of the instability to higher flow speed, and yet larger disorders (≥25%) suppress the transition to chaos. We show that disorder introduces preferential flow paths that promote shear over extensional deformation and enhance flow stability by locally reducing polymer stretching.
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Affiliation(s)
- Derek M Walkama
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tufts University, 200 College Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, Tufts University, 574 Boston Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA
| | - Nicolas Waisbord
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tufts University, 200 College Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA
| | - Jeffrey S Guasto
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Tufts University, 200 College Avenue, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, USA
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22
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Browne CA, Shih A, Datta SS. Pore-Scale Flow Characterization of Polymer Solutions in Microfluidic Porous Media. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2020; 16:e1903944. [PMID: 31602809 DOI: 10.1002/smll.201903944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2019] [Revised: 09/06/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Polymer solutions are frequently used in enhanced oil recovery and groundwater remediation to improve the recovery of trapped nonaqueous fluids. However, applications are limited by an incomplete understanding of the flow in porous media. The tortuous pore structure imposes both shear and extension, which elongates polymers; moreover, the flow is often at large Weissenberg numbers, Wi, at which polymer elasticity in turn strongly alters the flow. This dynamic elongation can even produce flow instabilities with strong spatial and temporal fluctuations despite the low Reynolds number, Re. Unfortunately, macroscopic approaches are limited in their ability to characterize the pore-scale flow. Thus, understanding how polymer conformations, flow dynamics, and pore geometry together determine these nontrivial flow patterns and impact macroscopic transport remains an outstanding challenge. This review describes how microfluidic tools can shed light on the physics underlying the flow of polymer solutions in porous media at high Wi and low Re. Specifically, microfluidic studies elucidate how steady and unsteady flow behavior depends on pore geometry and solution properties, and how polymer-induced effects impact nonaqueous fluid recovery. This work thus provides new insights for polymer dynamics, non-Newtonian fluid mechanics, and applications such as enhanced oil recovery and groundwater remediation.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Audrey Shih
- Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 08544, USA
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23
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Donath A, Kantzas A, Bryant S. Opportunities for Particles and Particle Suspensions to Experience Enhanced Transport in Porous Media: A Review. Transp Porous Media 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s11242-019-01256-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
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24
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Haward SJ, Kitajima N, Toda-Peters K, Takahashi T, Shen AQ. Flow of wormlike micellar solutions around microfluidic cylinders with high aspect ratio and low blockage ratio. SOFT MATTER 2019; 15:1927-1941. [PMID: 30657156 DOI: 10.1039/c8sm02099j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
We employ time-resolved flow velocimetry and birefringence imaging methods to study the flow of a well-characterized shear-banding wormlike micellar solution around a novel glass-fabricated microfluidic circular cylinder. In contrast with typical microfluidic cylinders, our geometry is characterized by a high aspect ratio α = H/W = 5 and a low blockage ratio β = 2r/W = 0.1, where H and W are the channel height and width, and the cylinder radius r = 20 μm. The small cylinder radius allows access up to very high Weissenberg numbers 1.9 ≤ Wi = λMU/r ≤ 3750 (where λM is the Maxwell relaxation time) while inertial effects remain entirely negligible (Reynolds number, Re < 10-4). At low Wi values, the flow remains steady and symmetric and a birefringent region (indicating micellar alignment and tensile stress) develops downstream of the cylinder. Above a critical value Wic ≈ 60 the flow transitions to a steady asymmetric state, characterized as a supercritical pitchfork bifurcation, in which the fluid takes a preferential path around one side of the cylinder. At a second critical value Wic2 ≈ 130, the flow becomes time-dependent, with a characteristic frequency f0 ≈ 1/λM. This initial transition to time dependence has characteristics of a subcritical Hopf bifurcation. Power spectra of the measured fluctuations become complex as Wi is increased further, showing a gradual slowing down of the dynamics and emergence of harmonics. A final transition at very high Wic3 corresponds to the re-emergence of a single peak in the power spectrum but at much higher frequency. We discuss this in terms of possible flow-induced breakage of micelles into shorter species with a faster relaxation time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon J Haward
- Micro/Bio/Nanofluidics Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Onna, Okinawa 904-0495, Japan.
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25
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Kawale D, Jayaraman J, Boukany PE. Microfluidic rectifier for polymer solutions flowing through porous media. BIOMICROFLUIDICS 2019; 13:014111. [PMID: 30867881 PMCID: PMC6404928 DOI: 10.1063/1.5050201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2018] [Accepted: 01/26/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Fluidic rectification refers to anisotropic flow resistance upon changing the flow direction. Polymeric solutions, in contrast to Newtonian fluids, can exhibit an anisotropic flow resistance in microfluidic devices by tuning the channel shape at low Reynolds number. Such a concept has not been investigated in an anisotropic porous medium. We have developed a fluidic rectifier based on an anisotropic porous medium consisting of a periodic array of triangular pillars that can operate at a low Reynolds number. Rectification is achieved, when the type of high Weissenberg number elastic instabilities changes with the flow direction. The flow resistance differs across the two directions of the anisotropic porous medium geometry. We have identified the type of elastic instabilities that appear in both forward and backward directions. Particularly, we found a qualitative relation between the dead-zone instability and the onset of fluidic rectification.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jishnu Jayaraman
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Van der Maasweg 9, 2629 HZ Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Pouyan E Boukany
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Van der Maasweg 9, 2629 HZ Delft, The Netherlands
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26
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Polymer Injectivity: Investigation of Mechanical Degradation of Enhanced Oil Recovery Polymers Using In-Situ Rheology. ENERGIES 2018. [DOI: 10.3390/en12010049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Water soluble polymers have attracted increasing interest in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes, especially polymer flooding. Despite the fact that the flow of polymer in porous medium has been a research subject for many decades with numerous publications, there are still some research areas that need progress. The prediction of polymer injectivity remains elusive. Polymers with similar shear viscosity might have different in-situ rheological behaviors and may be exposed to different degrees of mechanical degradation. Hence, determining polymer in-situ rheological behavior is of great significance for defining its utility. In this study, an investigation of rheological properties and mechanical degradation of different partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) polymers was performed using Bentheimer sandstone outcrop cores. The results show that HPAM in-situ rheology is different from bulk rheology measured by a rheometer. Specifically, shear thickening behavior occurs at high rates, and near-Newtonian behavior is measured at low rates in porous media. This deviates strongly from the rheometer measurements. Polymer molecular weight and concentration influence its viscoelasticity and subsequently its flow characteristics in porous media. Exposure to mechanical degradation by flow at high rate through porous media leads to significant reduction in shear thickening and thereby improved injectivity. More importantly, the degraded polymer maintained in-situ viscosity at low flow rates indicating that improved injectivity can be achieved without compromising viscosity at reservoir flow rates. This is explained by a reduction in viscoelasticity. Mechanical degradation also leads to reduced residual resistance factor (RRF), especially for high polymer concentrations. For some of the polymer injections, successive degradation (increased degradation with transport length in porous media) was observed. The results presented here may be used to optimize polymer injectivity.
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27
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Pesch GR, Lorenz M, Sachdev S, Salameh S, Du F, Baune M, Boukany PE, Thöming J. Bridging the scales in high-throughput dielectrophoretic (bio-)particle separation in porous media. Sci Rep 2018; 8:10480. [PMID: 29993026 PMCID: PMC6041321 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28735-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2018] [Accepted: 06/28/2018] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is a versatile technique for the solution of difficult (bio-)particle separation tasks based on size and material. Particle motion by DEP requires a highly inhomogeneous electric field. Thus, the throughput of classical DEP devices is limited by restrictions on the channel size to achieve large enough gradients. Here, we investigate dielectrophoretic filtration, in which channel size and separation performance are decoupled because particles are trapped at induced field maxima in a porous separation matrix. By simulating microfluidic model porous media, we derive design rules for DEP filters and verify them using model particles (polystyrene) and biological cells (S. cerevisiae, yeast). Further, we bridge the throughput gap by separating yeast in an alumina sponge and show that the design rules are equally applicable in real porous media at high throughput. While maintaining almost 100% efficiency, we process up to 9 mL min−1, several orders of magnitude more than most state-of-the-art DEP applications. Our microfluidic approach provides new insight into trapping dynamics in porous media, which even can be applied in real sponges. These results pave the way toward high-throughput retention, which is capable of solving existing problems such as cell separation in liquid biopsy or precious metal recovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Georg R Pesch
- University of Bremen and Center for Environmental Research and Sustainable Technology, Chemical Engineering: Recovery and Recycling (VdW), Bremen, Germany.
| | - Malte Lorenz
- University of Bremen and Center for Environmental Research and Sustainable Technology, Chemical Engineering: Recovery and Recycling (VdW), Bremen, Germany
| | - Shaurya Sachdev
- Delft University of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Samir Salameh
- Delft University of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Fei Du
- University of Bremen and Center for Environmental Research and Sustainable Technology, Chemical Engineering: Recovery and Recycling (VdW), Bremen, Germany
| | - Michael Baune
- University of Bremen and Center for Environmental Research and Sustainable Technology, Chemical Engineering: Recovery and Recycling (VdW), Bremen, Germany
| | - Pouyan E Boukany
- Delft University of Technology, Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft, The Netherlands.
| | - Jorg Thöming
- University of Bremen and Center for Environmental Research and Sustainable Technology, Chemical Engineering: Recovery and Recycling (VdW), Bremen, Germany
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28
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Polymer Flow in Porous Media: Relevance to Enhanced Oil Recovery. COLLOIDS AND INTERFACES 2018. [DOI: 10.3390/colloids2030027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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29
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Emulsions in porous media: From single droplet behavior to applications for oil recovery. Adv Colloid Interface Sci 2018; 256:305-325. [PMID: 29622270 DOI: 10.1016/j.cis.2018.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2018] [Revised: 03/06/2018] [Accepted: 03/07/2018] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Emulsions are suspensions of droplets ubiquitous in oil recovery from underground reservoirs. Oil is typically trapped in geological porous media where emulsions are either formed in situ or injected to elicit oil mobilization and thus enhance the amount of oil recovered. Here, we briefly review basic concepts on geometrical and wetting features of porous media, including thin film stability and fluids penetration modes, which are more relevant for oil recovery and oil-contaminated aquifers. Then, we focus on the description of emulsion flow in porous media spanning from the behaviour of single droplets to the collective flow of a suspension of droplets, including the effect of bulk and interfacial rheology, hydrodynamic and physico-chemical interactions. Finally, we describe the particular case of emulsions used in underground porous media for enhanced oil recovery, thereby discussing some perspectives of future work. Although focused on oil recovery related topics, most of the insights we provide are useful towards remediation of oil-contaminated aquifers and for a basic understanding of emulsion flow in any kind of porous media, such as biological tissues.
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30
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Viscoelastic effects on residual oil distribution in flows through pillared microchannels. J Colloid Interface Sci 2018; 510:262-271. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2017.09.069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2017] [Revised: 09/15/2017] [Accepted: 09/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
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31
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Kawale D, Bouwman G, Sachdev S, Zitha PLJ, Kreutzer MT, Rossen WR, Boukany PE. Polymer conformation during flow in porous media. SOFT MATTER 2017; 13:8745-8755. [PMID: 29119185 DOI: 10.1039/c7sm00817a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Molecular conformations of individual polymers during flow through porous media are directly observed by single-DNA imaging in microfluidics. As the Weissenberg number increases during flow (Wi > 1), we observe two types of elastic instabilities: (a) stationary dead-zone and (b) time-dependant dead-zone washing. When stretched polymer chains enter a dead-zone, they first re-coil and, once inside the dead-zone, they rotate and re-stretch again. The probability distribution of DNA chains under the stretched condition inside the dead-zone is found to be heterogeneous with a broad distribution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Durgesh Kawale
- Department of Geosciences and Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands.
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32
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Jacob JDC, Krishnamoorti R, Conrad JC. Particle dispersion in porous media: Differentiating effects of geometry and fluid rheology. Phys Rev E 2017; 96:022610. [PMID: 28950508 DOI: 10.1103/physreve.96.022610] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
We investigate the effects of geometric order and fluid rheology on the dispersion of micron-sized particles in two-dimensional microfluidic porous media. Particles suspended in a mixture of glycerol and water or in solutions of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) polymers were imaged as they flowed through arrays of microscale posts. From the trajectories of the particles, we calculated the velocity distributions and thereafter obtained the longitudinal and transverse dispersion coefficients. Particles flowed in the shear-thinning HPAM solution through periodic arrays of microposts were more likely to switch between streamlines, due to elastic instabilities. As a result, the distributions of particle velocity were broader in HPAM solutions than in glycerol-water mixtures for ordered geometries. In a disordered array of microposts, however, there was little difference between the velocity distributions obtained in glycerol-water and in HPAM solutions. Correspondingly, particles flowed through ordered post arrays in HPAM solutions exhibited enhanced transverse dispersion. This result suggests that periodic geometric order amplifies the effects of the elasticity-induced velocity fluctuations, whereas geometric disorder of barriers effectively averages out the fluctuations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jack D C Jacob
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, USA
| | - Ramanan Krishnamoorti
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, USA
- Department of Chemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, USA
| | - Jacinta C Conrad
- Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, USA
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33
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Hemminger O, Boukany PE. Microscopic origin of wall slip during flow of an entangled DNA solution in microfluidics: Flow induced chain stretching versus chain desorption. BIOMICROFLUIDICS 2017; 11:044118. [PMID: 28936276 PMCID: PMC5578862 DOI: 10.1063/1.4991496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2017] [Accepted: 08/21/2017] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Despite the relevance and importance of slip, a fundamental understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms of wall slip in polymer flow is still missing. In this work, we investigate the slip behavior of an entangled DNA solution at a molecular scale using a confocal microscope coupled to a microfluidic device. From microscopic measurement, we obtain both the velocity profile and conformation of polymeric chains by visualizing DNA molecules during flow on various surfaces (ranging from weak to strong interactions with DNA molecules). In channel flow at a low Weissenberg number (Wi = 0.14), we observe a parabolic flow for an APTES-treated glass (with strong interaction with DNA) in the absence of slip, while a significant amount of slip has been observed for a regular glass (with a weak interaction with DNA). At higher flow rates (Wi > 1.0), strong slip appears during flow on APTES-treated surfaces. In this case, only immobile DNA molecules are stretched on the surface and other bulk chains remain coiled. This observation suggests that the flow induced chain stretching at the interface is the main mechanism of slip during flow on strong surfaces. Conversely, for slip flow on surfaces with weak interactions (such as unmodified or acrylate-modified glasses), polymeric chains are desorbed from the surface and a thin layer of water is present near the surface, which induces an effective slip during flow. By imaging DNA conformations during both channel and shear flows on different surfaces, we elucidate that either chain desorption or flow-induced stretching of adsorbed chains occurs depending on the surface condition. In general, we expect that these new insights into the slip phenomenon will be useful for studying the biological flow involving single DNA molecule experiments in micro/nanofluidic devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Orin Hemminger
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Pouyan E Boukany
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands
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