Fractal Analysis of Surface Roughness of Particles in Porous Media

A fractal dimension for roughness height （RH） is introduced to characterize the degree of roughness or disorder of particle surface characters which significantly influence physical-chimerical processes in porous media. An analytical expression for the fractal dimension of RH on statistically self-similar fractal surfaces is derived and is expressed as a function of roughness parameters. The specific surface area （SSA） of porous materials with spherical particles is also derived, and the proposed fractal model for the SSA of particles with rough surfaces is expressed as a function of fractal dimension for RH and fractal dimension for particle size distribution, relative roughness of particle surface, and ratio of the minimum to the maximum particle diameters of spherical particles.     

A fractal streaming current model for charged microscale porous media

An analytical expression for the streaming current in fractal porous media is developed based on the capillary model and the fractal theory for porous media. The proposed fractal model is expressed as a function of the space charge density at the solid–liquid interface, the fluid flow rate, the Debye–Huckel parameter, the minimum and maximum pore/capillary radii and fractal dimensions for porous media. The results are compared with available experimental data and good agreement is found between them. In addition, factors influencing the streaming current in porous media are also analyzed.     

多孔介质中卡森流体的分形分析

研究了非牛顿流体中的卡森流体在多孔介质中的流动特性.基于服从分形分布的弯曲毛细管束模型,运用分形几何理论推导出了该流体在多孔介质中流动的流量、流速、启动压力梯度和有效渗透率的分形解析解.模型中的每一个参数都有明确的物理意义,它将卡森流体在多孔介质中的流动特性与多孔介质的微结构参数有机联系起来.文中给出了卡森流体的流速、启动压力梯度和有效渗透率随着各影响因素的变化趋势,并进行了讨论.所得分形模型可以更深刻地理解卡森流体在多孔介质中流动的内在物理机理. 关键词： 多孔介质 卡森流体 分形     

Dielectric constant of porous ultra low-k dielectrics by fractal-Monte Carlo simulations

The effective dielectric constant of porous ultra low-k dielectrics is simulated by applying the fractal geometry and Monte Carlo technique in this work. Based on the fractal character of pore size distribution in porous media, the probability models for pore diameter and for effective dielectric constant are derived. The proposed model for the effective dielectric constant is expressed as a function of the dielectric coefficient of base medium and the volume fractions of pores and base medium, fractal dimension for pores, the pore size, as well as random number. The Monte Carlo simulations combined with the fractal geometry are performed. The predictions by the present simulations are shown in good accord with the available experimental data. The proposed technique may have the potential in analyzing other properties such as electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity in porous ultra low-k dielectrics.     

Stochastic langevin model for flow and transport in porous media

We present a new model for fluid flow and solute transport in porous media, which employs smoothed particle hydrodynamics to solve a Langevin equation for flow and dispersion in porous media. This allows for effective separation of the advective and diffusive mixing mechanisms, which is absent in the classical dispersion theory that lumps both types of mixing into dispersion coefficient. The classical dispersion theory overestimates both mixing-induced effective reaction rates and the effective fractal dimension of the mixing fronts associated with miscible fluid Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities. We demonstrate that the stochastic (Langevin equation) model overcomes these deficiencies.     

随机多孔介质的蒙特卡罗重构与渗流特性模拟

根据多孔介质微观结构的分形尺度标度特征,采用蒙特卡罗方法分别重构随机多孔介质的微观颗粒和孔隙结构,并基于分形毛管束模型研究多尺度多孔介质的气体渗流特性,建立多孔介质微观结构和宏观渗流特性的定量关系。结果表明：分形蒙特卡罗重构的多孔介质微细结构接近真实介质结构,气体渗流特性的计算结果与格子玻尔兹曼模拟数据较为吻合; 多孔介质气体渗透率随着克努森数的增加而增大,孔隙分形维数对于气体渗流的微尺度效应具有显著影响,而迂曲度分形维数对于表观渗透率和固有渗透率的比值影响可以忽略。提出的分形蒙特卡罗方法具有收敛速度快且计算误差与维数无关的优点,有利于深入理解多尺度多孔介质的渗流机理。     

多孔介质通道的分形随机行走描述

多孔介质中的输运过程,如导热、渗流过程,关注的是热量从高温壁面穿过介质到达低温壁面、流体从多孔介质的边界沿孔隙流到另外一端的过程。此类现象可归结为载流子在多孔介质通道(基质或孔隙)中沿外部势差方向的运动过程。多孔介质通道具有分形特征,可以采用分形维数来描述其通道的通透性。本文基于现象的相似性特征,提出并发展了粒子在多孔介质中的方向随机行走模型,用粒子在基质中的方向随机行走过程来模拟真实的热流传输过程;根据分形统计规律得到粒子方向随机行走分形谱维数,并用其描述基质结构的连通性和方向性。研究结果表明,在孔隙率相同情况下,粒子在基质中的方向随机行走分形谱维数与有效导热系数大小有相同的变化趋势。     

A Lattice Boltzmann Model for Fluid-Solid Coupling Heat Transfer in Fractal Porous Media

We report a lattice Boltzmann model that can be used to simulate fluid-solid coupling heat transfer in fractal porous media. A numerical simulation is conducted to investigate the temperature evolution under different ratios of thermal conductivity of solid matrix of porous media to that of fluid. The accordance of our simulation results with the solutions from the conventional CFD method indicates the feasibility and the reliability for the developed lattice Boltzmann model to reveal the phenomena and rules of fluid-solid coupling heat transfer in complex porous structures.     

Tortuosity for streamlines in porous media

An analysis of tortuosity for streamlines in porous media is presented by coupling the circle and square models. It is assumed that some particles in porous media do not overlap and that fluid in porous media is incompressible. The relationship between tortuosity and porosity is attained with different configurations by using a statistical method. In addition, the tortuosity fractal dimension is expressed as a function of porosity. Those correlations do not include any empirical constant. The percolation threshold and tortuosity fractal dimension threshold of porous media are also presented as: c = 0.32, D T c = 1.07. The predicted correlations of the tortuosity and the porosity agree well with the existing experimental and simulated results.     

变形双重介质分形油藏非达西流动分析

考虑与实际生产相符的介质的双重特性和分形特征,并考虑介质的变形,引入双重分形介质渗透率模数,建立应力敏感地层双重分形介质系统的流动方程.采用Douglas-Jones预估-校正法获得无限大地层定产量生产时变形双重分形介质模型的数值解和无限大地层定压生产时分形介质双孔模型的数值解,作出了典型的压力曲线图版.     

A difference-fractal model for the permeability of fibrous porous media

In this Letter, a difference-fractal model for the permeability of viscous flow through fibrous porous media is proposed. Since fractal objects have well-defined geometric properties, and are discrete and discontinuous, we apply the difference approach to developing the fractal model. The model of non-dimensional permeability is expressed as a function of porosity and fractal dimension. To verify the validity of the proposed model, the predicted permeability values are compared with those of experimental measurements. A good agreement between the prediction of the fractal model and the existing experimental data from the literature is found.     

基于显微CT图像的岩芯孔隙分形特征

采用国内自主开发的高分辨率显微CT设备,对岩芯样本进行图像采集,运用数字图像分析方法获得图像中的岩芯孔隙目标,并以此为基础重建三维模型。然后基于分形理论,分别从二维图像和重建的三维模型角度计算孔隙的分形维数。最后,再采用基于多孔介质的分形模型对岩芯孔隙分形特征进行验证,得出岩芯的二维分形维数和三维分形维数之间的差值均值为1.000 3,最大偏差为0.004,很好地满足多孔介质分形模型中关于二维和三维分形维数的关系。     

Direct pore-level modeling of incompressible fluid flow in porous media

We present a dynamic particle-based model for direct pore-level modeling of incompressible viscous fluid flow in disordered porous media. The model is capable of simulating flow directly in three-dimensional high-resolution micro-CT images of rock samples. It is based on moving particle semi-implicit (MPS) method. We modify this technique in order to improve its stability for flow in porous media problems. Using the micro-CT image of a rock sample, the entire medium, i.e., solid and fluid, is discretized into particles. The incompressible Navier–Stokes equations are then solved for each particle using the MPS summations. The model handles highly irregular fluid–solid boundaries effectively. An algorithm to split and merge fluid particles is also introduced. To handle the computational load, we present a parallel version of the model that runs on distributed memory computer clusters. The accuracy of the model is validated against the analytical, numerical, and experimental data available in the literature. The validated model is then used to simulate both unsteady- and steady-state flow of an incompressible fluid directly in a representative elementary volume (REV) size micro-CT image of a naturally-occurring sandstone with 3.398 μm resolution. We analyze the quality and consistency of the predicted flow behavior and calculate absolute permeability using the steady-state flow rate.     

A Fractal Model for Effective Thermal Conductivity of Isotropic Porous Silica Low-k Materials

We establish a new model based on fractal theory and cubic spline interpolation to study the effective thermal conductivity of isotropic porous silica low-k materials. A 3D fractal model is introduced to describe the structure of the silica xerogel and silica hybrid materials （such as methylsilsesquioxane, MSQ）. Combined with fractal structure, a more suitable medium approximation is developed to study the isotropic porous silica xerogel and MSQ materials. Cubic spline interpolation for fitting discrete predictions from the fractal model is used to obtain the continuous function of the effective thermal conductivity versus porosity. Compared with other common models, the effective thermal conductivity predicted by our model presents better agreement with the experimental data for all porosity. These results indicate that the proposed model is valid.     

Analysis of the flow of non-Newtonian visco-elastic fluids in fractal reservoir with the fractional derivative

In both the oil reservoir engineering and seepage flow mechanics, heavy oil with relaxation property shows non-Newtonian rheological characteristics. The relationship between shear rate g& and shear stress t is nonlinear. Because of the relaxation phenomena of heavy oil flow in porous media, the equation of motion can be written as[1] 2,rrvpqkppqtrrtll秏骣+=-+琪抖桫 (1) where lv and lp are velocity relaxation and pressure retardation times. For most porous media, the above motion equation (1)…     

分形多孔介质中的热传导

本文将多孔介质视为由骨架和空隙组成的二元混合介质,研究了多孔介质中的热传导过程,发现分形结构中的导热规律与孔隙的分布有关,存在着与实体导热完全不同的特征。计算表明,分形介质中的导热过程除了与基质(骨架)的分形维数有关外,还与基质率以及反映介质中热量传递动态过程有关。     

The effective thermal conductivity of porous media based on statistical self-similarity

A fractal model is presented based on the thermal-electrical analogy technique and statistical self-similarity of fractal saturated porous media. A dimensionless effective thermal conductivity of saturated fractal porous media is studied by the relationship between the dimensionless effective thermal conductivity and the geometrical parameters of porous media with no empirical constant. Through this study, it is shown that the dimensionless effective thermal conductivity decreases with the increase of porosity (?) and pore area fractal dimension (Df) when ks/kg>1. The opposite trends is observed when ks/kg<1. In addition, the dimensionless effective thermal conductivity decreases with increasing tortuous fractal dimension (Dt). The model predictions are compared with existing experimental data and the results show that they are in good agreement with existing experimental data.     

An analysis of the radial flow in the heterogeneous porous media based on fractal and constructal tree networks

In this paper, an analysis of the radial flow in the heterogeneous porous media based on fractal and constructal tree networks is presented. A dual-domain model is applied to simulate the heterogeneous porous media embedded with a constructal tree network based on the fractal distribution of pore space and tortuosity nature of flow paths. The analytical expressions for seepage velocity, pressure drop, local and global permeability of the network and binary system are derived, and the transport properties for the optimal branching structure are discussed. Notable is that the global permeability (K_n) of the network and the volume fraction (f_n) occupied by the network exhibit linear scaling law with the fractal dimension (D_p) of channel diameter bylogK_n∼0.46D_p and logf_n∼1.03D_p, respectively. Our analytical results are in good agreement with the available numerical results for steady-state soil vapor extraction and indicate that the fractal dimension for pore space has significant effect on the permeable properties of the media. The proposed dual-domain model may capture the characteristics of heterogeneous porous media and help understanding the transport mechanisms of the radial flow in the media.     

基于分形理论的多孔介质导热系数研究

本文根据分形理论,对多孔介质几何结构进行了描述,计算出了不同孔隙率多孔介质简化模型的剖面面积分布分形维数d,并利用分形维数结合土壤导热模型推出了土壤的有效导热系数表达式,计算结果表明,该方法是符合客观实际的．     

Scale-dependent nature of the surface fractal dimension for bi- and multi-disperse porous solids by mercury porosimetry

The surface fractal dimension was calculated by using a mathematical model and mercury intrusion data for a variety of bi- and multi-disperse porous solids including silica gels, alumina pellets, and building stones. The mathematical model was obtained by modifying the well-established scaling relation published previously [Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 34 (1995) 1383-1386]. It was also verified by comparing with the theoretical surface fractal dimensions for regular fractal structures (Skerpinski tetrahedron and Menger sponge) and the calculated surface fractal dimensions for silica gel and alumina particles via the linear fitting method established previously. The calculation results for various bi- and multi-disperse porous solids have demonstrated that the scale-dependent nature of the surface fractal dimension is ubiquitous. The difference in the surface fractal dimension between pore size intervals usually exists. The estimation of the surface fractal dimension on an average stand may lead to erroneous results.