Experimental Characterization of Porosity Structure and Transport Property Changes in Limestone Undergoing Different Dissolution Regimes

Limestone dissolution by $\hbox {CO}_2$ -rich brine induces critical changes of the pore network geometrical parameters such as the pore size distribution, the connectivity, and the tortuosity which govern the macroscopic transport properties (permeability and dispersivity) that are required to parameterize the models, simulating the injection and the fate of $\hbox {CO}_2$ . A set of four reactive core-flood experiments reproducing underground conditions ( $T = 100\,^{\circ }\hbox {C}$ and $P = 12$ MPa) has been conducted for different $\hbox {CO}_2$ partial pressures $(0.034 < P_{\mathrm{CO}_2}< 3.4\; \hbox {MPa})$ in order to study the different dissolution regimes. X-ray microtomographic images have been used to characterize the changes in the structural properties from pore scale to Darcy scale, while time-resolved pressure loss and chemical fluxes enabled the determination of the sample-scale change in porosity and permeability. The results show the growth of localized dissolution features associated with high permeability increase for the highest $P_{\mathrm{CO}_2}$ , whereas dissolution tends to be more homogeneously distributed for lower values of $P_{\mathrm{CO}_2}$ . For the latter, the higher the $P_{\mathrm{CO}_2}$ , the more the dissolution patterns display ramified structures and permeability increase. For the lowest value of $P_{\mathrm{CO}_2}$ , the preferential dissolution of the calcite cement associated with the low dissolution kinetics triggers the transport that may locally accumulate and form a microporous material that alters permeability and produces an anti-correlated porosity–permeability relationship. The combined analysis of the pore network geometry and the macroscopic measurements shows that $P_{\mathrm{CO}_2}$ regulates the tortuosity change during dissolution. Conversely, the increase of the exponent value of the observed power law permeability–porosity trend while $P_{\mathrm{CO}_2}$ increases, which appears to be strongly linked to the increase of the effective hydraulic diameter, depends on the initial rock structure.     

Dynamical Parallelepipeds in Minimal Systems

For a topological dynamical system $(X,T)$ ( X , T ) and $d\in \mathbb N $ d ∈ N , the associated dynamical parallelepiped $\mathbf{Q}^{[d]}$ Q [ d ] was defined by Host–Kra–Maass. For a minimal distal system it was shown by them that the relation $\sim _{d-1}$ ～ d ? 1 defined on $\mathbf{Q}^{[d-1]}$ Q [ d ? 1 ] is an equivalence relation; the closing parallelepiped property holds, and for each $x\in X$ x ∈ X the collection of points in $\mathbf{Q}^{[d]}$ Q [ d ] with first coordinate $x$ x is a minimal subset under the face transformations. We give examples showing that the results do not extend to general minimal systems.     

Semianalytical Solution for \text{ CO}_{2} Plume Shape and Pressure Evolution During \text{ CO}_{2} Injection in Deep Saline Formations

The injection of supercritical carbon dioxide ( $\text{ CO}_{2})$ in deep saline aquifers leads to the formation of a $\text{ CO}_{2}$ rich phase plume that tends to float over the resident brine. As pressure builds up, $\text{ CO}_{2}$ density will increase because of its high compressibility. Current analytical solutions do not account for $\text{ CO}_{2}$ compressibility and consider a volumetric injection rate that is uniformly distributed along the whole thickness of the aquifer, which is unrealistic. Furthermore, the slope of the $\text{ CO}_{2}$ pressure with respect to the logarithm of distance obtained from these solutions differs from that of numerical solutions. We develop a semianalytical solution for the $\text{ CO}_{2}$ plume geometry and fluid pressure evolution, accounting for $\text{ CO}_{2}$ compressibility and buoyancy effects in the injection well, so $\text{ CO}_{2}$ is not uniformly injected along the aquifer thickness. We formulate the problem in terms of a $\text{ CO}_{2}$ potential that facilitates solution in horizontal layers, with which we discretize the aquifer. Capillary pressure is considered at the interface between the $\text{ CO}_{2}$ rich phase and the aqueous phase. When a prescribed $\text{ CO}_{2}$ mass flow rate is injected, $\text{ CO}_{2}$ advances initially through the top portion of the aquifer. As $\text{ CO}_{2}$ is being injected, the $\text{ CO}_{2}$ plume advances not only laterally, but also vertically downwards. However, the $\text{ CO}_{2}$ plume does not necessarily occupy the whole thickness of the aquifer. We found that even in the cases in which the $\text{ CO}_{2}$ plume reaches the bottom of the aquifer, most of the injected $\text{ CO}_{2}$ enters the aquifer through the layers at the top. Both $\text{ CO}_{2}$ plume position and fluid pressure compare well with numerical simulations. This solution permits quick evaluations of the $\text{ CO}_{2}$ plume position and fluid pressure distribution when injecting supercritical $\text{ CO}_{2}$ in a deep saline aquifer.     

Predominant Gas Transport in Microporous Hydrotalcite–Silica Membrane

The prepared microporous hydrotalcite (HT)–silica membrane was found to exhibit the molecular sieving characteristic of pristine silica material and high $\mathrm{CO}_{2}$ adsorption capacity of HT. The combined properties made enhanced $\mathrm{CO}_{2}$ permeability and separability from $\mathrm{CH}_{4}$ possible. The gas transport in the membrane was predominantly surface adsorption. The porous membrane overcame the Knudsen limitation and yielded the highest separation selectivity of 120 at 40 % $\mathrm{CO}_{2}$ feed concentration, $30\,^{\circ }\mathrm{C}$ operating temperature, and 100 kPa pressure difference.     

A New Insight into the Convective Boundary Condition

The steady mixed convection boundary layer flows over a vertical surface adjacent to a Darcy porous medium and subject respectively to (i) a prescribed constant wall temperature, (ii) a prescribed variable heat flux, $q_\mathrm{w} =q_0 x^{-1/2}$ q w = q 0 x ? 1 / 2 , and (iii) a convective boundary condition are compared to each other in this article. It is shown that, in the characteristic plane spanned by the dimensionless flow velocity at the wall ${f}^{\prime }(0)\equiv \lambda $ f ′ ( 0 ) ≡ λ and the dimensionless wall shear stress $f^{\prime \prime }(0)\equiv S$ f ′ ′ ( 0 ) ≡ S , every solution $(\lambda , S)$ ( λ , S ) of one of these three flow problems at the same time is also a solution of the other two ones. There also turns out that with respect to the governing mixed convection and surface heat transfer parameters $\varepsilon $ ε and $\gamma $ γ , every solution $(\lambda , S)$ ( λ , S ) of the flow problem (iii) is infinitely degenerate. Specifically, to the very same flow solution $(\lambda , S)$ ( λ , S ) there corresponds a whole continuous set of values of $\varepsilon $ ε and $\gamma $ γ which satisfy the equation $S=-\gamma (1+\varepsilon -\lambda )$ S = ? γ ( 1 + ε ? λ ) . For the temperature solutions, however, the infinite degeneracy of the velocity solutions becomes lifted. These and further outstanding features of the convective problem (iii) are discussed in the article in some detail.     

Basic Reproduction Ratios for Almost Periodic Compartmental Epidemic Models

The theory of the basic reproduction ratio $R_{0}$ R 0 and its computation formulae for almost periodic compartmental epidemic models are established. It is shown that the disease-free almost periodic solution is stable if $R_{0}<1$ R 0 < 1 , and unstable if $R_{0}>1$ R 0 > 1 . We also apply the developed theory to a patchy model with almost periodic population dispersal and disease transmission coefficients to obtain a threshold type result for uniform persistence and global extinction of the disease.     

Drainage of Capillary-Trapped Oil by an Immiscible Gas: Impact of Transient and Steady-State Water Displacement on Three-Phase Oil Permeability

In a previous paper (Dehghanpour et al., Phys Rev E 83:065302, 2011a), we showed that relative permeability of mobilized oil, $k_\mathrm{ro}$ , measured during tertiary gravity drainage, is significantly higher than that of the same oil saturation in other tests where oil is initially a continuous phase. We also showed that tertiary $k_\mathrm{ro}$ strongly correlates to both water saturation, $S_\mathrm{w}$ , water flux (water relative permeability), $k_\mathrm{rw}$ , and the change in water saturation with time, $\mathrm{d}S_\mathrm{w}/\mathrm{d}t$ . To develop a model and understanding of the enhanced oil transport, identifying which of these parameters ( $S_\mathrm{w},\,k_{\mathrm{rw}}$ , or $\mathrm{d}S_\mathrm{w}/\mathrm{d}t$ ) plays the controlling role is necessary, but in the previous experiments these could not be deconvolved. To answer the remaining question, we conduct specific three-phase displacement experiments in which $k_{\mathrm{rw}}$ is controlled by applying a fixed water influx, and $S_\mathrm{w}$ develops naturally. We obtain $k_{\mathrm{ro}}$ by using the saturation data measured in time and space. The results suggest that steady-state water influx, in contrast to transient water displacement, does not enhance $k_{\mathrm{ro}}$ . Instead, reducing water influx rate results in excess oil flow. Furthermore, according to our pore scale hydraulic conductivity calculations, viscous coupling and fluid positioning do not sufficiently explain the observed correlation between $k_{\mathrm{ro}}$ and $S_{\mathrm{w}}$ . We conclude that tertiary $k_{\mathrm{ro}}$ is controlled by the oil mobilization rate, which in turn is linked to the rate of water saturation decrease with time, $\mathrm{d}S_\mathrm{w}/\mathrm{d}t$ . Finally, we develop a simple model which relates tertiary $k_{\mathrm{ro}}$ to transient two-phase gas/water relative permeability.     

Invariant Parallels, Invariant Meridians and Limit Cycles of Polynomial Vector Fields on Some 2-Dimensional Algebraic Tori in \mathbb R ^3

We consider the polynomial vector fields of arbitrary degree in $\mathbb R ^3$ R 3 having the 2-dimensional algebraic torus $$\begin{aligned} \mathbb T ^2(l,m,n)=\{(x,y,z)\in \mathbb R ^3 : (x^{2l}+y^{2m}-r^2)^2+z^{2n}-1=0\}, \end{aligned}$$ T 2 ( l , m , n ) = { ( x , y , z ) ∈ R 3 : ( x 2 l + y 2 m - r 2 ) 2 + z 2 n - 1 = 0 } , where $l,m$ l , m , and $n$ n positive integers, and $r\in (1,\infty )$ r ∈ ( 1 , ∞ ) , invariant by their flow. We study the possible configurations of invariant meridians and parallels that these vector fields can exhibit on $\mathbb T ^2(l,m,n)$ T 2 ( l , m , n ) . Furthermore, we analyze when these invariant meridians or parallels are limit cycles.     

Fracture Propagation Driven by Fluid Outflow from a Low-Permeability Aquifer

Deep saline aquifers are promising geological reservoirs for $\mathrm {CO}_2$ CO 2 sequestration if they do not leak. The absence of leakage is provided by the caprock integrity. However, $\mathrm {CO}_2$ CO 2 injection operations may change the geomechanical stresses and cause fracturing of the caprock. We present a model for the propagation of a fracture in the caprock driven by the outflow of fluid from a low-permeability aquifer. We show that to describe the fracture propagation, it is necessary to solve the pressure diffusion problem in the aquifer. We solve the problem numerically for the two-dimensional domain and show that, after a relatively short time, the solution is close to that of one-dimensional problem, which can be solved analytically. We use the relations derived in the hydraulic fracture literature to relate the width of the fracture to its length and the flux into it, which allows us to obtain an analytical expression for the fracture length as a function of time. Using these results we predict the propagation of a hypothetical fracture at the In Salah $\mathrm {CO}_2$ CO 2 injection site to be as fast as a typical hydraulic fracture. We also show that the hydrostatic and geostatic effects cause the increase of the driving force for the fracture propagation and, therefore, our solution serves as an estimate from below. Numerical estimates show that if a fracture appears, it is likely that it will become a pathway for $\mathrm {CO}_2$ CO 2 leakage.     

Residual Trapping Beneath Impermeable Barriers During Buoyant Migration of \mathrm{CO}_2

The presence of impermeable barriers in a reservoir can significantly impede the buoyant migration of $\mathrm{CO}_2$ injected deep into a heterogeneous geological formation. An important consequence of the presence of these impermeable barriers in terms of the long-term storage of $\mathrm{CO}_2$ is the residual trapping that takes place beneath the barriers, which acts to both increase the storage potential of the reservoir and improve the storage security of the $\mathrm{CO}_2$ . Analytical results for the total amount of $\mathrm{CO}_2$ trapped in a reservoir with an uncorrelated random distribution of impermeable barriers are obtained for both two and three-dimensional cases. In two dimensions, it is shown that the total amount of $\mathrm{CO}_2$ contained in this fashion scales as $n^{5/4}$ , where $n$ is the number of barriers in the vertical direction. In three dimensions, the trapped amount scales as $n^c$ , where $5/4 \le c \le 2$ depending on the aspect ratio of the barriers. The analytical two-dimensional results are compared with results of detailed numerical simulations, and good agreement is observed.     

Impact of Effective Stress and Matrix Deformation on the Coal Fracture Permeability

The permeability of coal is an important parameter in mine methane control and coal bed methane exploitation because it determines the practicability of methane extraction. We developed a new coal permeability model under tri-axial stress conditions. In our model, the coal matrix is compressible and Biot’s coefficient, which is considered to be 1 in existing models, varies between 0 and 1. Only a portion of the matrix deformation, which is represented by the effective coal matrix deformation factor $f_\mathrm{m}$ , contributes to fracture deformation. The factor $f_\mathrm{m}$ is a parameter of the coal structure and is a constant between 0 and 1 for a specific coal. Laboratory tests indicate that the Sulcis coal sample has an $f_\mathrm{m}$ value of 0.1794 for $\hbox {N}_{2}$ and $\hbox {CO}_{2}$ . The proposed permeability model was evaluated using published data for the Sulcis coal sample and is compared to three popular permeability models. The proposed model agrees well with the observed permeability changes and can predict the permeability of coal better than the other models. The sensitivity of the new model to changes in the physical, mechanical and adsorption deformation parameters of the coal was investigated. Biot’s coefficient and the bulk modulus mainly affect the effective stress term in the proposed model. The sorption deformation parameters and the factor $f_\mathrm{m}$ affect the coal matrix deformation term.     

Correlation of Water Vapor Permeability with Microstructure Characteristics of Building Materials Using Robust Chemometrics

This paper studies various microstructure parameters of natural and artificial building materials and aims to their correlation to the water vapor permeability. Three categories of building materials were investigated: stones, bricks, and plasters. Mercury intrusion porosimetry was applied in order to obtain the materials microstructure characteristics, a variety of pore size distributions and pore structure measurements, such as total porosity. The water vapor permeability of materials was determined experimentally according to ASTM standard E96-00. A robust principal component regression approach, coupled with multiple outlier detection, was applied in order to correlate water vapor permeability values to pore size distributions. A good quality correlation model was found by utilizing relative specific pore volume and relative specific pore surface distributions, whereas using pore structure measurements, such as total porosity, the correlation results were very poor. From the results, specific ranges of pore size distribution, corresponding to pores radius sizes greater than $10\,\upmu \text{ m }$ 10 μ m and between 1.778 and $0.421\,\upmu \text{ m }$ 0.421 μ m , contribute to the water vapor permeability of the materials.     

Regularity and Asymptotic Behavior of Nonlinear Stefan Problems

We study the following nonlinear Stefan problem $$\left\{\begin{aligned}\!\!&u_t\,-\,d\Delta u = g(u) & &\quad{\rm for}\,x\,\in\,\Omega(t), t > 0, \\ & u = 0 \, {\rm and} u_t = \mu|\nabla_{x} u|^{2} &&\quad {\rm for}\,x\,\in\,\Gamma(t), t > 0, \\ &u(0, x) = u_{0}(x) &&\quad {\rm for}\,x\,\in\,\Omega_0,\end{aligned} \right.$$ where ${\Omega(t) \subset \mathbb{R}^{n}}$ ( ${n \geqq 2}$ ) is bounded by the free boundary ${\Gamma(t)}$ , with ${\Omega(0) = \Omega_0}$ , μ and d are given positive constants. The initial function u ₀ is positive in ${\Omega_0}$ and vanishes on ${\partial \Omega_0}$ . The class of nonlinear functions g(u) includes the standard monostable, bistable and combustion type nonlinearities. We show that the free boundary ${\Gamma(t)}$ is smooth outside the closed convex hull of ${\Omega_0}$ , and as ${t \to \infty}$ , either ${\Omega(t)}$ expands to the entire ${\mathbb{R}^n}$ , or it stays bounded. Moreover, in the former case, ${\Gamma(t)}$ converges to the unit sphere when normalized, and in the latter case, ${u \to 0}$ uniformly. When ${g(u) = au - bu^2}$ , we further prove that in the case ${\Omega(t)}$ expands to ${{\mathbb R}^n}$ , ${u \to a/b}$ as ${t \to \infty}$ , and the spreading speed of the free boundary converges to a positive constant; moreover, there exists ${\mu^* \geqq 0}$ such that ${\Omega(t)}$ expands to ${{\mathbb{R}}^n}$ exactly when ${\mu > \mu^*}$ .     

Hadamard Variational Formula for the Green’s Function of the Boundary Value Problem on the Stokes Equations

For every ${\varepsilon > 0}$ , we consider the Green’s matrix ${G_{\varepsilon}(x, y)}$ of the Stokes equations describing the motion of incompressible fluids in a bounded domain ${\Omega_{\varepsilon} \subset \mathbb{R}^d}$ , which is a family of perturbation of domains from ${\Omega\equiv \Omega_0}$ with the smooth boundary ${\partial\Omega}$ . Assuming the volume preserving property, that is, ${\mbox{vol.}\Omega_{\varepsilon} = \mbox{vol.}\Omega}$ for all ${\varepsilon > 0}$ , we give an explicit representation formula for ${\delta G(x, y) \equiv \lim_{\varepsilon\to +0}\varepsilon^{-1}(G_{\varepsilon}(x, y) - G_0(x, y))}$ in terms of the boundary integral on ${\partial \Omega}$ of ${G_0(x, y)}$ . Our result may be regarded as a classical Hadamard variational formula for the Green’s functions of the elliptic boundary value problems.     

Global Compensated Compactness Theorem for General Differential Operators of First Order

Let A ₁(x, D) and A ₂(x, D) be differential operators of the first order acting on l-vector functions ${u= (u_1, \ldots, u_l)}$ in a bounded domain ${\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^{n}}$ with the smooth boundary ${\partial\Omega}$ . We assume that the H ¹-norm ${\|u\|_{H^{1}(\Omega)}}$ is equivalent to ${\sum_{i=1}^2\|A_iu\|_{L^2(\Omega)} + \|B_1u\|_{H^{\frac{1}{2}}(\partial\Omega)}}$ and ${\sum_{i=1}^2\|A_iu\|_{L^2(\Omega)} + \|B_2u\|_{H^{\frac{1}{2}}(\partial\Omega)}}$ , where B _i  = B _i (x, ν) is the trace operator onto ${\partial\Omega}$ associated with A _i (x, D) for i = 1, 2 which is determined by the Stokes integral formula (ν: unit outer normal to ${\partial\Omega}$ ). Furthermore, we impose on A ₁ and A ₂ a cancellation property such as ${A_1A_2^{\prime}=0}$ and ${A_2A_1^{\prime}=0}$ , where ${A^{\prime}_i}$ is the formal adjoint differential operator of A _i (i = 1, 2). Suppose that ${\{u_m\}_{m=1}^{\infty}}$ and ${\{v_m\}_{m=1}^{\infty}}$ converge to u and v weakly in ${L^2(\Omega)}$ , respectively. Assume also that ${\{A_{1}u_m\}_{m=1}^{\infty}}$ and ${\{A_{2}v_{m}\}_{m=1}^{\infty}}$ are bounded in ${L^{2}(\Omega)}$ . If either ${\{B_{1}u_m\}_{m=1}^{\infty}}$ or ${\{B_{2}v_m\}_{m=1}^{\infty}}$ is bounded in ${H^{\frac{1}{2}}(\partial\Omega)}$ , then it holds that ${\int_{\Omega}u_m\cdot v_m \,{\rm d}x \to \int_{\Omega}u\cdot v \,{\rm d}x}$ . We also discuss a corresponding result on compact Riemannian manifolds with boundary.     

Miscible and Immiscible Foam Injection for Mobility Control and EOR in Fractured Oil-Wet Carbonate Rocks

Foam injection is a proven enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technique for heterogeneous reservoirs, but is less studied for EOR in fractured systems. We experimentally investigated tertiary \(\text {CO}_{2}\) injections, and \(\text {N}_{2}\) - and \(\text {CO}_{2}\) -foam injections for enhanced oil recovery in fractured, oil-wet limestone core plugs. Miscible \(\text {CO}_{2}\) and \(\text {CO}_{2}\) -foam was compared with immiscible \(\text {CO}_{2}\) - and \(\text {N}_{2}\) -foam as tertiary recovery techniques, subsequent to waterfloods, in fractured rocks with different wettability preferences. At water-wet conditions waterfloods produced approximately 40 % OOIP, by spontaneous imbibition. Waterflood oil recovery at oil-wet conditions was below 20 % OOIP, due to suppressed imbibition where water predominantly flowed through the fractures, unable to mobilize the oil trapped in the matrix. Tertiary, supercritical \(\text {CO}_{2}\) -mobilized oil trapped in the matrix, particularly at weakly oil-wet conditions, by diffusion. Recovery by diffusion was high due to small core samples, high initial oil saturation and a continuous oil phase at oil-wet conditions. Both immiscible \(\text {CO}_{2}\) - and \(\text {N}_{2}\) -foams and miscible, supercritical \(\text {CO}_{2}\) -foam demonstrated high ultimate oil recoveries, but immiscible foam was less efficient (30 pore volumes injected) compared to miscible foam (2 pore volumes injected) to reach ultimate recovery. This is explained by the capillary threshold pressure preventing the injected \(\text {N}_{2}\) gas from entering the matrix, verified by computed X-ray tomography, and the mobilized oil was displaced by the aqueous surfactant in the foam. At miscible conditions, there exists no capillary entry pressure between the oil-saturated matrix and the injected \(\text {CO}_{2}\) , allowing foam to invade the matrix for efficient oil recovery.     

Elongational rheology of NIPAM-based hydrogels

Hydrogels of different composition based on the copolymerization of N-isopropyl acrylamide and surfmers of different chemical structure were tested in elongation using Hencky/real definitions for stress, strain, and strain rate, offering a more scientific insight into the effect of deformation on the properties. In a range between $\dot {\varepsilon }=10$ and 0.01 s $^{-1}$ , the material properties are independent of strain rate and show a very clear strain hardening with a “brittle” sudden fracture. The addition of surfmer increases the strain at break $\varepsilon _{\mathrm {H}}^{\max }$ and at the same time leads to a failure of hyperelastic models. The samples can be stretched up to Hencky strains $\varepsilon _{\mathrm {H}}^{\max }$ between 0.6 and 2.5, depending on the molecular structure, yielding linear Young’s moduli E $_{0}$ between 2,700 and 39,000 Pa. The strain-rate independence indicates an ideal rubberlike behavior and fracture in a brittle-like fashion. The resulting stress at break $\sigma _{\textrm max}$ can be correlated with $\varepsilon _{\mathrm {H}}^{\max } $ and $E_{0}$ as well as with the solid molar mass between the cross-linking points $M_{\mathrm {c}}^{\textrm {solids}} $ , derived from $E_{0}$ .     

Double-Diffusive Natural Convection in Anisotropic Porous Medium Bounded by Finite Thickness Walls: Validity of Local Thermal Equilibrium Assumption

Double-diffusive natural convection in fluid-saturated porous medium inside a vertical enclosure bounded by finite thickness walls with opposing temperature, concentration gradients on vertical walls as well as adiabatic and impermeable horizontal ones has been performed numerically. The Darcy model was used to predict fluid flow inside the porous material, while thermal fields are simulated based on two-energy equations for fluid and solid phases on the basis of a local thermal non-equilibrium model. Computations have been performed for different controlling parameters such as the buoyancy ratio $N$ , the Lewis number Le, the anisotropic permeability ratio $R_\mathrm{p}$ , the fluid-to-solid thermal conductivity ratio $R_\mathrm{c}$ , the interphase heat transfer coefficient $\mathcal{H}$ , the ratio of the wall thickness to its height $D$ , the wall-to-porous medium thermal diffusivity ratio $R_\mathrm{w}$ , and the solid-to-fluid heat capacity ratio $\gamma $ . Thus, the effects of the controlling parameters on heat and mass transfer characteristics are discussed in detail. Moreover, the validity domain of the local thermal equilibrium (LTE) assumption has been delimited for different set of the governing parameters. It has been shown that Le has a noticeable significant effect on fluid temperature profiles and that higher $N$ values lead to a significant enhancement in heat and mass transfer rates. Moreover, for higher $\mathcal{H}, R_\mathrm{c}$ , $R_\mathrm{p}, R_\mathrm{w}$ , or $D$ values and/or lower $\gamma $ values, the solid and fluid phases tend toward LTE.     

Liouville Type Property and Spreading Speeds of KPP Equations in Periodic Media with Localized Spatial Inhomogeneity

The current paper is devoted to the study of semilinear dispersal evolution equations of the form $$\begin{aligned} u_t(t,x)=(\mathcal {A}u)(t,x)+u(t,x)f(t,x,u(t,x)),\quad x\in \mathcal {H}, \end{aligned}$$ where $\mathcal {H}=\mathbb {R}^N$ or $\mathbb {Z}^N,\; \mathcal {A}$ is a random dispersal operator or nonlocal dispersal operator in the case $\mathcal {H}=\mathbb {R}^N$ and is a discrete dispersal operator in the case $\mathcal {H}=\mathbb {Z}^N$ , and $f$ is periodic in $t$ , asymptotically periodic in $x$ (i.e. $f(t,x,u)-f_0(t,x,u)$ converges to $0$ as $\Vert x\Vert \rightarrow \infty $ for some time and space periodic function $f_0(t,x,u)$ ), and is of KPP type in $u$ . It is proved that Liouville type property for such equations holds, that is, time periodic strictly positive solutions are unique. It is also proved that if $u\equiv 0$ is a linearly unstable solution to the time and space periodic limit equation of such an equation, then it has a unique stable time periodic strictly positive solution and has a spatial spreading speed in every direction.