Mathematical Model of Coalbed Gas Flow with Klinkenberg Effects in Multi-Physical Fields and its Analytic Solution

The deep-mining coal seam impacted by high in situ stress, where Klinkenberg effects for gas flow were very obvious due to low gas permeability, could be regarded as a porous and tight gas-bearing media. Moreover, the Klinkenberg effects had a significant effect on gas flow behavior of deep-mining coal seam. Based on the gas flow properties of deep-mining coal seams affected by in situ stress field, geothermal temperature field and geo-electric field, a new mathematical model of coalbed gas flow, which reflected the impact of Klinkenberg effects on coalbed gas flow properties in multi-physical fields, was developed by establishing the flow equation, state equation, and continuity equation and content equation of coalbed gas. The analytic solution was derived for the model of one-dimensional steady coalbed gas flow with Klinkenberg effects affected by in situ stress field and geothermal temperature field, and a sensitivity analysis of its physical parameters was carried out by comparing available analytic solutions and the measured values. The results show that the analytic solutions of this model of coalbed gas flow with Klinkenberg effects are closer to the measured values compared to those without Klinkenberg effects, and this model can reflect more accurately gas flow of deep-mining coal seams. Moreover, the analytic solution of this model is more sensitive to the change of Klinkenberg factor b and temperature grad G than depth h.     

Numerical solution of the three‐dimensional fluid flow in a rotating heterogeneous porous channel

A numerical solution to the problem of the three‐dimensional fluid flow in a long rotating heterogeneous porous channel is presented. A co‐ordinate transformation technique is employed to obtain accurate solutions over a wide range of porous media Ekman number values and consequent boundary layer thicknesses. Comparisons with an approximate asymptotic solution (for large values of Ekman number) and with theoretical predictions on the validity of Taylor–Proudman theorem in porous media for small values of Ekman number show good qualitative agreement. An evaluation of the boundary layer thickness is presented and a power‐law correlation to Ekman number is shown to well‐represent the results for small values of Ekman number. The different three‐dimensional fluid flow regimes are presented graphically, demonstrating the distinct variation of the flow field over the wide range of Ekman numbers used. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flow patterns of an array of electromagnetically-driven cellular vortices

 A visualization study has been made of the patterns of a quasi-two-dimensional flow consisting of a linear array of four main cellular vortices. The flow is driven electromagnetically by the Lorentz force due to the interaction between a constant magnetic field arranged with alternating polarities and an electrolyzing current through a horizontal thin layer of an electrolytic aqueous solution. A peculiar flow consisting of a middle vortex pair reduced in size and two outer grown-up vortices is found to form when the reduced Lorentz force exceeds about 100. Received: 3 July 1996/Accepted: 15 December 1996     

Effect of thermophoretic particle deposition in non-Newtonian free convection flow over a vertical plate with magnetic field effect

The present contribution deals with the effects of thermophoretic particle deposition on the free convective flow over a vertical flat plate embedded in a non-Newtonian fluid-saturated porous medium in the presence of a magnetic field. The governing partial differential equations are transformed into ordinary differential equations by using special transformations. The resulting similarity equations are solved numerically by an efficient implicit finite-difference method. For various values of the problem parameters, graphs of the profile concentration in the boundary layer and of thermophoretic deposition velocity are presented.     

A Conceptual Study of Cavity Aeroacoustics Control Using Porous Media Inserts

In this study, an integrated flow simulation and aeroacoustics prediction methodology is applied to testing a sound control technique using porous inserts in an open cavity. Large eddy simulation (LES) combined with a three-dimensional Ffowcs Williams–Hawkings (FW–H) acoustic analogy is employed to predict the flow field, the acoustic sources and the sound radiation. The Darcy pressure – velocity law is applied to conceptually mimic the effect of porous media placed on the cavity floor and/or rear wall. Consequently, flow in the cavity could locally move in or out through these porous walls, depending on the local pressure differences. LES with “standard” subgrid-scale models for compressible flow is carried out to simulate the flow field covering the sound source and near fields, and the fully three-dimensional FW–H acoustic analogy is used to predict the sound field. The numerical results show that applying the conceptual porous media on cavity floor and/or rear wall could decrease the pressure fluctuations in the cavity and the sound pressure level in the far field. The amplitudes of the dominant oscillations (Rossiter modes) are suppressed and their frequencies are slightly modified. The dominant sound source is the transverse dipole term, which is significantly reduced due to the porous walls. As a result, the sound pressure in the far field is also suppressed. The preliminary study reveals that using porous-inserts is a promising technology for flow and sound radiation control.     

Unsteady compressible boundary layer flow in the stagnation region of a sphere with a magnetic field

Summary An analysis is performed to study the unsteady compressible laminar boundary layer flow in the forward stagnation-point region of a sphere with a magnetic field applied normal to the surface. We have considered the case where there is an initial steady state that is perturbed by the step change in the total enthalpy at the wall. The nonlinear coupled parabolic partial differential equations governing the flow and heat transfer have been solved numerically using a finite-difference scheme. The numerical results are presented, which show the temporal development of the boundary layer. The magnetic field in the presence of variable electrical conductivity causes an overshoot in the velocity profile. Also, when the total enthalpy at the wall is suddenly increased, there is a change in the direction of transfer of heat in a small interval of time. Received 15 January 1996; accepted for publication 21 November 1996     

Interstitial fluid flow: simulation of mechanical environment of cells in the interosseous membrane

In vitro experiments have shown that subtle fluid flow environment plays a significant role in living biological tissues,while there is no in vivo practical dynamical measurement of the interstitial fluid flow velocity.On the basis of a new finding that capillaries and collagen fibrils in the interosseous membrane form a parallel array,we set up a porous media model simulating the flow field with FLUENT software,studied the shear stress on interstitial cells’ surface due to the interstitial fluid flow,and analyzed the effect of flow on protein space distribution around the cells.The numerical simulation results show that the parallel nature of capillaries could lead to directional interstitial fluid flow in the direction of capillaries.Interstitial fluid flow would induce shear stress on the membrane of interstitial cells,up to 30 Pa or so,which reaches or exceeds the threshold values of cells’ biological response observed in vitro.Interstitial fluid flow would induce nonuniform spacial distribution of secretion protein of mast cells.Shear tress on cells could be affected by capillary parameters such as the distance between the adjacent capillaries,blood pressure and the permeability coefficient of capillary’s wall.The interstitial pressure and the interstitial porosity could also affect the shear stress on cells.In conclusion,numerical simulation provides an effective way for in vivo dynamic interstitial velocity research,helps to set up the vivid subtle interstitial flow environment of cells,and is beneficial to understanding the physiological functions of interstitial fluid flow.     

Nonlinear Two-Phase Mixing in Heterogeneous Porous Media

For a two-phase immiscible flow through a heterogeneous porous medium in gravity field but with neglected capillary pressure, a macroscale model of first order is derived by a two-scale homogenization method while capturing the effect of fluid mixing. The mixing is manifested in the form of a nonlinear hydrodynamic dispersion and a transport velocity shift. The dispersion tensor is shown to be a nonlinear function of saturation. In the case offlow without gravity this function is proportional to the fractional flow derivative and depends on the viscosity ratio. For a flow which is one dimensional at the macroscale, the dispersion operator remains three dimensional and can be calculated in an analytical way. In the case of gravity induced flow, the longitudinal dispersion as the function of saturation is negative within some interval of saturation values. Numerical simulations of the microscale problemjustify the theoretical results of homogenization.     

Simulations of flow through open cell metal foams using an idealized periodic cell structure

A new approach to modeling the flow through a porous medium with a well defined structure is presented. This approach entailed modeling an idealized open cell metal foam based on a fundamental periodic unit of eight cells and solving the flow through the three-dimensional cellular unit. To model an infinitely large matrix, periodic boundary conditions were set on the walls parallel to the flow direction, while a pseudo-periodic boundary condition with a prescribed volumetric flow rate was set over the inlet–outlet pair of the unit cell. The pressure drop data of the flow through the cellular unit were then compared on a length-normalized basis against experimental data. The pressure drop values predicted by the simulations were consistently 25% lower than the values obtained in the experiments on a similar foam and under identical flow conditions. One explanation for the discrepancy between the two sets of data is the lack of pressure drop increasing wall effects in the simulations. The increase in the pressure drop from wall effects in the simulation was quantified.     

Vortex shedding from a square cylinder in presence of a moving wall

A numerical study on the flow past a square cylinder placed parallel to a wall, which is moving at the speed of the far field has been made. Flow has been investigated in the laminar Reynolds number (based on the cylinder length) range. We have studied the flow field for different values of the cylinder to wall separation length. The governing unsteady Navier–Stokes equations are discretized through the finite volume method on a staggered grid system. A SIMPLE type of algorithm has been used to compute the discretized equations iteratively. A shear layer of negative vortex generates along the surface of the wall, which influences the vortex shedding behind the cylinder. The flow‐field is distinct from the flow in presence of a stationary wall. An alternate vortex shedding occurs for all values of gap height in the unsteady regime of the flow. The strong positive vortex pushes the negative vortex upwards in the wake. The gap flow in the undersurface of the cylinder is strong and the velocity profile overshoots. The cylinder experiences a downward force for certain values of the Reynolds number and gap height. The drag and lift are higher at lower values of the Reynolds number. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Rapid diagnosis of flow separation around an axial impeller in a mixing vessel

 The relative flows around a flat plate axial impeller in a mixing vessel were visualized directly using a combined image shifting and image de-rotation technique. The image shifting technique used a rotating mirror to produce a velocity bias equal to the blade velocity so that the relative flow field could be studied in a co-axial plane cutting through the 2-dimensional blade section. The technique provides a rapid means of locating local flow separation on the blade. To visualize the relative flow field in the plane of the blade span, an image de-rotation method was used. The method includes using a dove-shaped prism which, when rotated, produce a rotation of an image about the optical axis. It was observed in the relative frame of reference through the prism that a new vortex structure, not reported previously, with vorticity sign opposite to that of the rotation of the shaft, exists near the hub at the high pressure side of the blade. Received: 17 June 1996/Accepted:12 November 1996     

On the stability of shear flows in nematics

A theoretical study of the effect of an applied magnetic field on the stability of the flow of nematic slabs subjected to an arbitrary shear is presented. Homeotropic boundary conditions with strong anchoring and a constant magnetic field applied perpendicular to the plates are considered. We discuss the general conditions on the control parameters under which the flow is stable, for a low molecular weight liquid crystal and for a polymer liquid crystal, and obtain estimations of the critical values.     

Slow steady flows of a conducting fluid at large Hartmann numbers

We consider slow steady flows of a conducting fluid at large values of the Hartmann number and small values of the magnetic Reynolds number in an inhomogeneous magnetic field. The general solution is obtained in explicit form for the basic portion (core) of the flow, where the inertia and viscous forces may be neglected. The boundary conditions which this solution must satisfy at the outer edges of the boundary layers which develop at the walls are considered. Possible types of discontinuity surfaces and other singularities in the flow core are examined. An exact solution is obtained for the problem of conducting fluid flow in a tube of arbitrary section in an inhomogeneous magnetic field.The content of this paper is a generalization of some results on flows in a homogeneous magnetic field, obtained in [1–8], to the case of arbitrary flows in an inhomogeneous magnetic field. The author's interest in the problems considered in this study was attracted by a report presented by Professor Shercliff at the Institute of Mechanics, Moscow State University, in May 1967, on the studies of English scientists on conducting fluid flows in a strong uniform magnetic field.     

Experimental study of coating flows in a partially-filled horizontally Rotating cylinder

 We describe a number of different phenomena seen in the free-surface flow inside a partially filled circular cylinder which is rotated about its horizontal axis of symmetry. At low angular velocities the flow settles into a steady two-dimensional flow with a front where the coating film coalesces with the pool at the bottom of the cylinder. This mode becomes unstable at higher angular velocities, initially to a sloshing mode on the rising side of the coating film and then to an axial instability on the front. The undulations that appear on the front grow into large-amplitude stationary patterns with cusp-like features for some parameter values. At still higher angular velocities and volume fractions, a number of different inertial instabilities and patterns appear. We present a phase diagram of the various transitions and characterize some of the more prominent instabilities and patterns in detail, along with some possible mechanisms for the observed behaviour. Received: 13 April 1996 / Accepted: 13 June 1996     

Dual hologram technique with enhanced sensitivity for measurements of weak phase objects

Conventional interferometric measurements of weak phase objects run into serious accuracy problems due to low sensitivity and/or optical aberrations. This paper describes an optical method, based on the dual hologram technique, with enhanced sensitivity and with compensating for the optical aberrations. It provides a reliable acquisition of the phase information from wide range of weak phase objects including high speed flow fields. The method was demonstrated by mapping the density field of a small size axisymmetric supersonic jet as a representative weak phase object. Received: 8 July 1996 / Accepted: 26 September 1996     

Flow of oil–water emulsions through a constricted capillary

The flow of oil-in-water emulsions through quartz micro-capillary tubes was analyzed experimentally. The capillaries were used as models of connecting pore-throats between adjacent pore body pairs in high-permeability media. Pressure drop between the inlet and outlet ends of the capillary was recorded as a function of time, for several values of the volumetric flow rate. Several distinct emulsions were prepared using synthetic oils in deionized water, stabilized by a surfactant (Triton X-100). Two oils of different viscosity values were used to prepare the emulsions, while two distinct drop size distributions were obtained by varying the mixing procedure. The average oil drop size varied from smaller to larger than the neck radius. The results are presented in terms of the extra-pressure drop due to the presence of the dispersed phase, i.e. the difference between the measured pressure drop and the one necessary to drive the continuous phase alone at the same flow rate. For emulsions with drops smaller than the capillary throat diameter, the extra-pressure drop does not vary with capillary number and it is a function of the viscosity ratio, dispersed phase concentration and drop size distribution. For emulsions with drops larger than the constriction, the large oil drops may partially block the capillary, leading to a high extra pressure difference at low capillary numbers. Changes in the local fluid mobility by means of pore-throat blockage may help to explain the additional oil recovery observed in laboratory experiments and the sparse data on field trials.     

Boundary-layer flow of a micropolar fluid due to a stretching wall

Summary  A Theoretical analysis is carried out to study the boundary-layer flow over a continuously moving surface through an otherwise quiescent micropolar fluid. The transformed boundary-layer equations are solved numerically for a power-law surface velocity using the Keller-box method. The effects of the micropolar K and exponent m parameters on the velocity and microrotation field as well as on the skin-friction group are discussed in a detailed manner. It is shown that there is a near-similarity solution of this problem. The accuracy of the present solution is also discussed. Accepted for publication 1 April 1996     

Calculation of stagnation streamline quantities in hypersonic blunt body flows

An approximate method for the efficient calculation of stagnation-streamline quantities in hypersonic flows about spheres or cylinders is suggested. Based on the local similarity of the flow field the two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations are simplified to a one-dimensional approximation for the stagnation streamline. These equations are solved with an implicit finite-volume scheme. Comparisons with fully two–dimensional Euler and Navier–Stokes calculations for flows about spheres are presented, that include perfect gas flows and flows in chemical non-equilibrium. Comparisons with a number of experiments conclude this report. Received 8 May 1996 / Accepted 31 October 1996     

The impact of instability appearance on the quadratic law for flow through porous media

In the present paper, we attempt to explain the macroscopic flow law evolution in porous media according to the Reynolds number. A crenellated channel, considered as an element of such a medium, is used to perform numerical simulations in stationary and non-stationary cases. In the case of non-stationary laminar flows, we point out flow instabilities occurring in the channel at high Reynolds numbers and we focus on their influence on the macroscopic law. We qualitatively prove that they generate an additional quadratic contribution to Forchheimer’s law. We use two methods to study this contribution: first, a periodic disturbance, for which the instabilities appearing at the beginning of disturbance become regular oscillations; then a pulse disturbance of the entry velocity field which enables us to link the additional quadratic contribution to the existence of an accumulation of fluid at low velocity in the channel.     

Transient effects of orthogonal pipe oscillations on laminar developing incompressible flow

This paper presents a numerical study of the transient developing laminar flow of a Newtonian incompressible fluid in a straight horizontal pipe oscillating around the vertical diameter at its entrance. The flow field is influenced by the tangential and Coriolis forces, which depend on the through‐flow Reynolds number, the oscillation Reynolds number and the angular amplitude of the pipe oscillation. The impulsive start of the latter generates a transient pulsating flow, whose duration increases with axial distance. In any cross‐section, this flow consists of a pair of symmetrical counter‐rotating vortices, which are alternatively clockwise and anti‐clockwise. The circumferentially averaged friction factor and the axial pressure gradient fluctuate with time and are always larger than the corresponding values for a stationary pipe. On the other hand, local axial velocities and local wall shear stress can be smaller than the corresponding stationary pipe values during some part of the pipe oscillation. The fluctuation amplitude of these local variables increases with axial distance and can be as high as 50% of the corresponding stationary pipe value, even at short distances from the pipe entrance. Eventually, the flow field reaches a periodic regime that depends only on the axial position. The results show that the transient flow field depends on the pipe oscillation pattern (initial position and/or direction of initial movement). Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.