Numerical and experimental investigation of convective drying in unsaturated porous media with bound water

The heat and mass transfer in an unsaturated wet cylindrical porous bed packed with quartz particles was investigated theoretically for relatively low convective drying rates. Local thermodynamic equilibrium was assumed in the mathematical model describing the multi-phase flow in the unsaturated porous media using the energy and mass conservation equations to describe the heat and mass transfer during the drying. The drying model included convection and capillary transport of the free water, diffusion of bound water, and convection and diffusion of the gas. The numerical results indicated that the drying process could be divided into three periods, the temperature rise period, the constant drying rate period and the decreasing drying rate period. The numerical results agreed well with the experimental data verifying that the mathematical model can evaluate the drying performance of porous media for low drying rates. The effects of drying conditions such as the ambient temperature, the relative humidity, and the velocity of the drying air, on the drying process were evaluated by numerical solution.     

Flow in porous media III: Deformable media

Stokes flow in a deformable medium is considered in terms of an isotropic, linearly elastic solid matrix. The analysis is restricted to steady forms of the momentum equations and small deformation of the solid phase. Darcy's law can be used to determine the motion of the fluid phase; however, the determination of the Darcy's law permeability tensor represents part of the closure problem in which the position of the fluid-solid interface must be determined.Roman Letters A interfacial area of the- interface contained within the macroscopic system, m² - A interfacial area of the- interface contained within the averaging volume, m² - A _e area of entrances and exits for the-phase contained within the macroscopic system, m² - A ^* interfacial area of the- interface contained within a unit cell, m² - A _e ^* area of entrances and exits for the-phase contained within a unit cell, m² - E Young's modulus for the-phase, N/m² - e i unit base vectors (i = 1, 2, 3) - g gravity vector, m²/s - H height of elastic, porous bed, m - k unit base vector (=e ₃) - characteristic length scale for the-phase, m - L characteristic length scale for volume-averaged quantities, m - n unit normal vector pointing from the-phase toward the-phase (n = -n ) - p pressure in the-phase, N/m² - P p – g·r, N/m² - r ₀ radius of the averaging volume, m - r position vector, m - t time, s - T total stress tensor in the-phase, N/m² - T ⁰ hydrostatic stress tensor for the-phase, N/m² - u displacement vector for the-phase, m - V averaging volume, m₃ - V volume of the-phase contained within the averaging volume, m³ - v velocity vector for the-phase, m/s Greek Letters V /V, volume fraction of the-phase - mass density of the-phase, kg/m³ - shear coefficient of viscosity for the-phase, Nt/m² - first Lamé coefficient for the-phase, N/m² - second Lamé coefficient for the-phase, N/m² - bulk coefficient of viscosity for the-phase, Nt/m² - T –T ⁰ , a deviatoric stress tensor for the-phase, N/m²     

Diffusion in anisotropic porous media

An experimental system was constructed in order to measure the two distinct components of the effective diffusivity tensor in transversely isotropic, unconsolidated porous media. Measurements were made for porous media consisting of glass spheres, mica particles, and disks made from mylar sheets. Both the particle geometry and the void fraction of the porous media were determined experimentally, and theoretical calculations for the two components of the effective diffusivity tensor were carried out. The comparison between theory and experiment clearly indicates that the void fraction and particle geometry are insufficient to characterize the process of diffusion in anisotropic porous media. Roman Letters A interfacial area between - and -phases for the macroscopic system, m² - A _e area of entrances and exits of the -phase for the macroscopic system, m² - A interfacial area contained within the averaging volume, m² - a characteristic length of a particle, m - b average thickness of a particle, m - c _A concentration of species A, moles/m³ - c _o reference concentration of species A, moles/m³ - c _A intrinsic phase average concentration of species A, moles/m³ - c _a c _A–c _A, spatial deviation concentration of species A, moles/m³ - C c _A/c ₀, dimensionless concentration of species A - binary molecular diffusion coefficient, m²/s - D _eff effective diffusivity tensor, m²/s - D _xx component of the effective diffusivity tensor associated with diffusion parallel to the bedding plane, m²/s - D _yy component of the effective diffusivity tensor associated with diffusion perpendicular to the bedding plane, m²/s - D _eff effective diffusivity for isotropic systems, m₂/s - f vector field that maps c _A on to c _a , m - h depth of the mixing chamber, m     

Thawing in saturated porous media

A mathematical model for thawing in a saturated porous medium is considered. The well-posedness of the corresponding mathematical problem is proved and similarity solutions are found.

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Sommario Si considera un modello matematico per to scongelamento in un mezzo poroso saturo. Viene dimostrata la buona posizione del corrispondente problema matematico e si trovano soluzioni di similarità.

     

Microstructural stresses in porous media

Moscow Civil Engineering Institute. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 27, No. 8, pp. 23–28, August, 1991.     

Application of a lattice-gas numerical algorithm to modelling water transport in fractured porous media

A 2D lattice-gas numerical algorithm was used to simulate liquid infiltration into unsaturated porous media with a parallel sided central crack. The chosen model, the interacting liquid-gas model of Appert and Zaleski, has dynamic properties leading to a phase transition and liquid and gas phases can be simulated by the model. These two phases are used to simulate biphasic flow in porous media. Fourteen numerical experiments of liquid infiltration were carried out which differed in the morphology of the microporous matrix, in the aperture of the central crack and in the amount of liquid supplied. For the same microporous matrix, the infiltration dynamics in the dual media depended upon the ratio between the amount of liquid supplied and the crack aperture. Variations in water storage over time and liquid flow regimes within the cracks are discussed.     

Transport in ordered and disordered porous media IV: Computer generated porous media for three-dimensional systems

In the method of volume averaging, the difference between ordered and disordered porous media appears at two distinct points in the analysis, i.e. in the process of spatial smoothing and in the closure problem. In theclosure problem, the use of spatially periodic boundary conditions isconsistent with ordered porous media and the fields under consideration when the length-scale constraint,r ₀L is satisfied. For disordered porous media, spatially periodic boundary conditions are an approximation in need of further study.In theprocess of spatial smoothing, average quantities must be removed from area and volume integrals in order to extractlocal transport equations fromnonlocal equations. This leads to a series of geometrical integrals that need to be evaluated. In Part II we indicated that these integrals were constants for ordered porous media provided that the weighting function used in the averaging process contained thecellular average. We also indicated that these integrals were constrained by certain order of magnitude estimates for disordered porous media. In this paper we verify these characteristics of the geometrical integrals, and we examine their values for pseudo-periodic and uniformly random systems through the use of computer generated porous media.

Nomenclature

Roman Letters A interfacial area of the- interface associated with the local closure problem, m² - A _e area of entrances and exits for the-phase contained within the averaging system, m² - a _i i=1, 2, 3 gaussian probability distribution used to locate the position of particles - I unit tensor - L general characteristic length for volume averaged quantities, m - L characteristic length for , m - L characteristic length for , m - characteristic length for the -phase particles, m - ⁰ reference characteristic length for the-phase particles, m - characteristic length for the-phase, m - _i i=1, 2, 3 lattice vectors, m - m convolution product weighting function - m _v special convolution product weighting function associated with the traditional volume average - n _i i=1, 2, 3 integers used to locate the position of particles - n unit normal vector pointing from the-phase toward the-phase - n _e outwardly directed unit normal vector at the entrances and exits of the-phase - r _p position vector locating the centroid of a particle, m - r gaussian probability distribution used to determine the size of a particle, m - r ₀ characteristic length of an averaging region, m - r position vector, m - r _m support of the weighting functionm, m - averaging volume, m³ - V volume of the-phase contained in the averaging volume,, m³ - x positional vector locating the centroid of an averaging volume, m - x ₀ reference position vector associated with the centroid of an averaging volume, m - y position vector locating points relative to the centroid, m - y position vector locating points in the-phase relative to the centroid, m Greek Letters indicator function for the-phase - Dirac distribution associated with the- interface - V /V, volume average porosity - /L, small parameter in the method of spatial homogenization - standard deviation ofa _i - _r standard deviation ofr - _r intrinsic phase average of      

Melting and refreezing of porous media

During severe nuclear reactor accidents similar to Three-Mile Island, the fuel rods can fragment and thus convert the reactor core into a large rubble bed composed primarily of UO₂ and ZrO₂ particles. In the present study a one-dimensional model is developed for the melting and refreezing of such a bed. The analysis includes mass conservation equations for the species of interest (UO₂ and ZrO₂); a momentum equation that represents a balance among drag, capillary and gravity forces; an energy equation that incorporates the effects of convection by the melt, radiation and conduction through the bed and internal heat generation; and a UO₂---ZrO₂ phase diagram. A few key results are that (1) capillary forces are only important in beds composed of particles smaller than a few millimeters in diameter and in such beds, melt relocates both upward and downward until it freezes, forming crusted regions above and below the melt zone; (2) as melt flows downward and freezes, a flow blockage forms near the bottom of the bed and the location of this blockage is determined by the bottom thermal boundary layer thickness; (3) the maximum thickness of the lower crust increases linearly with the height of the bed; and (4) deviations from initially uniform composition profiles occur because ZrO₂ is preferentially melted and these deviations decrease as the initial ZrO₂ concentration is increased.     

Stochastic and upscaled analytical modeling of fines migration in porous media induced by low-salinity water injection

Fines migration induced by injection of low-salinity water(LSW) into porous media can lead to severe pore plugging and consequent permeability reduction. The deepbed filtration(DBF) theory is used to model the aforementioned phenomenon, which allows us to predict the effluent concentration history and the distribution profile of entrapped particles. However, the previous models fail to consider the movement of the waterflood front. In this study, we derive a stochastic model for fines migration ...     

Macroscopic thermodynamics of porous media

A macroscopic thermodynamical theory of unsaturated porous media is studied. The porous media under consideration contain air, liquid water and its vapour encountering phase changes. To the classical state quantities, viz. temperature and densities, we add the volume fractions. These fractions are submitted to constraints, for instance their values lie between 0 and 1. The constraints are taken into account by the free energies which become non-smooth functions. The constitutive laws are obtained by classical thermodynamics and a careful treatment of the non-smooth functions. The constitutive laws account for experimental properties of unsaturated porous media: hysteresis of the sorption and desorption, capillary suction ...     

Wave propagation in fractured porous media

A theory of wave propagation in fractured porous media is presented based on the double-porosity concept. The macroscopic constitutive relations and mass and momentum balance equations are obtained by volume averaging the microscale balance and constitutive equations and assuming small deformations. In microscale, the grains are assumed to be linearly elastic and the fluids are Newtonian. Momentum transfer terms are expressed in terms of intrinsic and relative permeabilities assuming the validity of Darcy's law in fractured porous media. The macroscopic constitutive relations of elastic porous media saturated by one or two fluids and saturated fractured porous media can be obtained from the constitutive relations developed in the paper. In the simplest case, the final set of governing equations reduce to Biot's equations containing the same parameters as of Biot and Willis.Now at Izmir Institute of Technology, Anafartalar Cad. 904, Basmane 35230, Izmir, Turkey.     

Linear waves in saturated porous media

The peculiarity of linear and nonlinear wave propagation in porous media saturated with liquid or gas has been investigated by the methods of multiphase media mechanics. It has been shown that for the analysis and interpretation of experimental data, it is expedient to build models taking into account the nonstationary powers of interaction between the solid and liquid phases and the viscouselastic behaviour of the porous media skeleton. Inertia and inertia-viscous powers principally influence wave attentuation in porous media. Two interphase mechanisms of momentum transfer (two stress tensors — in the solid phase and liquid) lead to two types of waves. Attenuation is determined not only by interphase friction, but also by dissipation resulting from intergrain friction in the solid phase, the influence of which multiplexly exceeds the liquid viscosity influence. The real decrement of attenuation may exceed the sphere restricted by the limiting curves corresponding to the frozen and equilibrium schemes of intergrain deformation. The attenuation of momentum perturbation has been studied. The method of discrete Fourier transform has been used. The analysis of experimental data contained in the literature and their comparison with the results of calculations has been carried out.     

Dispersion in spatially periodic porous media

The method of volume averaging is applied to ordered and disordered spatially periodic porous media in two dimensions in order to compute the components of the dispersion tensor for low Peclet numbers ranging from 0.1 to 100. The effect of different parameters on the dispersion tensor is studied. The longitudinal dispersion coefficient decreases with an increase in disorder while the transverse dispersion coefficient increases. The location of discs in the unit cell influences the longitudinal dispersion coefficient significantly, compared to the transverse dispersion coefficient. Under a laminar flow regime, the dispersion coefficient is independent of Re_p. The predicted functional dependency of dispersion on the Peclet number agrees with experimental data. The predicted longitudinal dispersion coefficient in disordered porous media is smaller than that of the experimental data. However, the predicted transverse dispersion coefficient agrees with the experimental data.     

Nonlinear flow in fractured porous media

Conventional models of filtration in fractured porous bodies involve certain unwarrantable assumptions related to the definition of basic equations and the underestimation of a connection between the effective properties of a body and both the stress system and the pressure of a flowing fluid. A new theory is developed with the help of reconsidering those underlying assumptions and of a conception of the body being subject to elastic deformations. The theory is illustrated by means of studying a particular problem of stationary filtration.     

Waves in partially saturated porous media

The propagation of compressional waves in a porous medium is investigated in case the pore liquid contains a small volume fraction of gas. The effect of oscillating gas bubbles is taken into account by introducing a frequency-dependent fluid bulk modulus, which is incorporated in the Biot theory. Using a shock tube technique, new experimental data are obtained for a porous column subjected to a pressure step wave. An oscillatory behaviour is observed, consisting of two distinct frequency bands, which is predicted by the theoretical analysis.