Density fluctuations near the liquid-gas critical point of a confined fluid

Random Field Ising Model Criticality in a Complex Binary Liquid System

While Ising criticality in classical liquids has been firmly established both theoretically and experimentally, much less is known about criticality in liquids in which the growth of the correlation length is frustrated by finite-size effects. A theoretical approach for dealing with this issue is the random-field Ising model (RFIM). While experimental critical-exponent values have been reported for magnetic samples (here, we consider γ, ν and η), little experimental information is available for critical fluctuations in corresponding liquid systems. In this paper, we present a study on a binary liquid consisting of 3-methyl pyridine and heavy water in a very light-weight porous gel. We find that the experimental results are in agreement with the theoretical predictions from the RFIM.

Experimental Study on the Criticality of a Methane/Ethane Mixture Confined in Nanoporous Media

For the first time, the critical region of a methane/ethane mixture confined in nanoporous media (SBA-15) is experimentally investigated using differential scanning calorimetry with an isochoric cooling procedure. The results reveal that the supercritical region of the confined fluid mixture exists at a lower pressure than its counterpart in the bulk space. The shift of the critical region is dependent on the pore size, which is similar to that of pure fluids [Tan et al., J. Phys. Chem. C, 2019, 123, 9824-9830]. Specifically, compared to that in bulk, the shift is greater for smaller pore size. The heat of capillary condensation of this mixture is also discussed. The findings in this work would shed some light on the understanding of confined phase behavior, especially criticality, in investigations toward more complex confined mixtures encountered in practical engineering application, for example, oil and gas recovery from unconventional reservoirs.

Diffusion of interacting particles in discrete geometries: Equilibrium and dynamical properties

We expand on a recent study of a lattice model of interacting particles [Phys. Rev. Lett. 111, 110601 (2013)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.111.110601]. The adsorption isotherm and equilibrium fluctuations in particle number are discussed as a function of the interaction. Their behavior is similar to that of interacting particles in porous materials. Different expressions for the particle jump rates are derived from transition-state theory. Which expression should be used depends on the strength of the interparticle interactions. Analytical expressions for the self- and transport diffusion are derived when correlations, caused by memory effects in the environment, are neglected. The diffusive behavior is studied numerically with kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) simulations, which reproduces the diffusion including correlations. The effect of correlations is studied by comparing the analytical expressions with the kMC simulations. It is found that the Maxwell-Stefan diffusion can exceed the self-diffusion. To our knowledge, this is the first time this is observed. The diffusive behavior in one-dimensional and higher-dimensional systems is qualitatively the same, with the effect of correlations decreasing for increasing dimension. The length dependence of both the self- and transport diffusion is studied for one-dimensional systems. For long lengths the self-diffusion shows a 1/L dependence. Finally, we discuss when agreement with experiments and simulations can be expected. The assumption that particles in different cavities do not interact is expected to hold quantitatively at low and medium particle concentrations if the particles are not strongly interacting.

Fluids in porous media: the case of neutral walls

The bulk phase behavior of a fluid is typically altered when the fluid is brought into confinement by the walls of a random porous medium. Inside the porous medium, phase-transition points are shifted, or may disappear altogether. A crucial determinant is how the walls interact with the fluid particles. In this work, we consider the situation whereby the walls are neutral with respect to the liquid and vapor phases. In order to realize the condition of strict neutrality, we use a symmetric binary mixture inside a porous medium that interacts identically with mixture species. Monte Carlo simulations are then used to obtain the phase behavior. Our main finding is that, in the presence of the porous medium, a liquid-vapor critical point still exists. At the critical point, the distribution of the order parameter remains scale invariant, but self-averaging is violated. These findings provide further evidence that random confinement by neutral walls induces critical behavior of the random Ising model (i.e., Ising models with dilution type disorder, where the disorder couples to the energy).

Monitoring phase behavior of sub- and supercritical CO2 confined in porous fractal silica with 85% porosity

Phase behavior of CO(2) confined in porous fractal silica with volume fraction of SiO(2) phi(s) = 0.15 was investigated using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and ultrasmall-angle neutron scattering (USANS) techniques. The range of fluid densities (0 < (rho(CO(2)))(bulk) < 0.977 g/cm(3)) and temperatures (T = 22 degrees C, 35 and 60 degrees C) corresponded to gaseous, liquid, near critical and supercritical conditions of the bulk fluid. The results revealed formation of a dense adsorbed phase in small pores with sizes D < 40 A at all temperatures. At low pressure (P < 55 bar, (rho(CO(2)))(bulk) < 0.2 g/cm(3)) the average fluid density in pores may exceed the density of bulk fluid by a factor up to 6.5 at T = 22 degrees C. This "enrichment factor" gradually decreases with temperature, however significant fluid densification in small pores still exists at temperature T = 60 degrees C, i.e., far above the liquid-gas critical temperature of bulk CO(2) (T(C) = 31.1 degrees C). Larger pores are only partially filled with liquid-like adsorbed layer which coexists with unadsorbed fluid in the pore core. With increasing pressure, all pores become uniformly filled with the fluid, showing no measurable enrichment or depletion of the porous matrix with CO(2).

Characterization and structural investigation of fractal porous-silica over an extremely wide scale range of pore size

We have succeeded in creating Menger sponge-like fractal body, i.e., porous-silica samples with Menger sponge-like fractal geometries, by a novel template method utilizing template particles of alkylketene dimer (AKD) and a sol-gel synthesis of tetramethyl orthosilicate (TMOS). We report here the first experimental results on characterization and structural investigations of the fractal porous-silica samples prepared with various conditions such as calcination temperature and packing condition of the template particles. In order to characterize the fractal porous-silica samples, pore volume distribution, porosity and specific surface area were measured over an extremely wide scale from 1 nm to 100 microm by means of mercury porosimetry, (1)H NMR cryoporometry, nitrogen gas adsorption experiments together with direct evaluations of cross-sectional fractal dimension D(cs), and size limits of D(cs). We have found that the pore volume distribution and specific surface area of the fractal porous-silica samples can be discussed in terms of different fractal porous structures at different scale regions.

Dynamic micromapping of CO2 sorption in coal

We have applied X-ray and neutron small-angle scattering techniques (SAXS, SANS, and USANS) to study the interaction between fluids and porous media in the particular case of subcritical CO2 sorption in coal. These techniques are demonstrated to give unique, pore-size-specific insights into the kinetics of CO2 sorption in a wide range of coal pores (nano to meso) and to provide data that may be used to determine the density of the sorbed CO2. We observed densification of the adsorbed CO2 by a factor up to five compared to the free fluid at the same (p, T) conditions. Our results indicate that details of CO2 sorption into coal pores differ greatly between different coals and depend on the amount of mineral matter dispersed in the coal matrix: a purely organic matrix absorbs more CO2 per unit volume than one containing mineral matter, but mineral matter markedly accelerates the sorption kinetics. Small pores are filled preferentially by the invading CO2 fluid and the apparent diffusion coefficients have been estimated to vary in the range from 5x10(-7) cm2/min to more than 10(-4) cm2/min, depending on the CO2 pressure and location on the sample.

Critical behavior of symmetrical fluid mixtures in random pores

We study the liquid-liquid demixing of a binary mixture with a symmetrical coupling to the quenched disorder by means of computer simulation. The critical point in the thermodynamic limit is estimated both by assuming the knowledge of the critical exponents and independently of them. The finite-size scaling analysis of the susceptibilities and the values of the critical amplitudes show that the universality class of the fluid mixture is compatible with the diluted quenched-Ising model. Our findings extend the class of systems exhibiting the same critical behavior of diluted antiferromagnets.

Adsorption of supercritical CO2 in aerogels as studied by small-angle neutron scattering and neutron transmission techniques

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) has been used to study the adsorption behavior of supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) in porous Vycor glass and silica aerogels. Measurements were performed along two isotherms (T=35 and 80 degrees C) as a function of pressure (P) ranging from atmospheric up to 25 MPa, which corresponds to the bulk fluid densities ranging from rho(CO2) approximately 0 to 0.9 gcm3. The intensity of scattering from CO2-saturated Vycor porous glass can be described by a two-phase model which suggests that CO2 does not adsorb on the pore walls and fills the pore space uniformly. In CO2-saturated aerogels an adsorbed phase is formed with a density substantially higher that of the bulk fluid, and neutron transmission data were used to monitor the excess adsorption at different pressures. The results indicate that adsorption of CO2 is significantly stronger in aerogels than in activated carbons, zeolites, and xerogels due to the extremely high porosity and optimum pore size of these materials. SANS data revealed the existence of a compressed adsorbed phase with the average density approximately 1.07 gcm3, close to the density corresponding to closely packed van der Waals volume of CO2. A three-phase model [W. L. Wu, Polymer 23, 1907 (1982)] was used to estimate the volume fraction phi3 of the adsorbed phase as a function of the fluid density, and gave phi3 approximately 0.78 in the maximum adsorption regime around rho(CO2) approximately 0.374 gcm3. The results presented in this work demonstrate the utility of SANS combined with the transmission measurements to study the adsorption of supercritical fluids in porous materials.