Theoretical and experimental aspects of vacuum impregnation of porous media using transparent etched networks

Vacuum impregnation is a process method in which air and native solution are removed from the porous space of a given porous material and replaced by an external solution. Vacuum impregnation is divided into two steps: Firstly, the porous material is immersed in a liquid solution and exposed to subatmospheric pressure for a given time to ensure that air trapped in the porous materials will be removed; secondly, atmospheric pressure is re-established and the external solution penetrates the pore structure of the porous material. The objective of this study was to describe the hydrodynamic mechanisms involved in vacuum impregnation of porous materials as a function of capillary number and viscosity ratio. To achieve the objectives proposed in the present study, a transparent glass micromodel 7.7 cm × 7.4 cm was first constructed using the photolithographic technique. In addition, a stainless steel vacuum tank was built. The tank top was covered with a transparent reinforced glass plate. The whole system was connected to a vacuum pump, and a conventional video camera was adapted to record the experiments. Liquid saturation was determined through the image analysis process. Capillary number and viscosity ratio were determined for the drainage and imbibition processes. For the systems studied, we conclude that transport mechanisms ranged between stable displacement and capillary fingering during the vacuum step (drainage) while transport mechanisms ranged between continuous capillary and discontinuous capillary domains during the atmospheric step (imbibition). Earlier work indicated that our proposed process should be even more efficient for realistically large systems.