The effective diffusivities in porous media with and without nonlinear reactions

The question of whether effective diffusivities in porous materials under reactive and nonreactive conditions are equal is addressed. Previous studies had considered the problem with first-order reactions. We study the issue with two nonlinear reactions—a second-order reaction and one governed by the Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Pore network and continuum models of porous media are utilized to estimate the effective diffusivities under reactive and nonreactive conditions. We show that the two effective diffusivities are significantly different. The difference is due to the heterogeneities of the porous material, and the fluctuations that they cause in the spatially varying local concentrations and diffusivities, and can be as large as a few orders of magnitude. Theoretical analysis of diffusion and reactions in porous media is also presented that supports the results of the simulations. In particular, it is shown that the results of pore network simulations cannot be fitted to the classical continuum equation of diffusion and reaction, and that a more complex continuum equation should be used for this purpose.     

Dynamics of fluid circulation in coupled free and heterogeneous porous domains

Fluid flow in coupled free and porous domain, particularly when the porous medium is heterogeneous, is encountered in many hydro-environmental conditions, e.g., leakage from underground pipe, combined groundwater lake-subsurface interactions. One of the most difficult problems in the study of coupled flow behaviour has been the development of a universally applicable modelling scheme for combining the flow regimes. This is because the free/porous interfacial properties (e.g., shear-stress; velocity slip) that govern the coupled flow behaviour are difficult to determine experimentally under hydro-environmental conditions. On the other hand, the implications of various forms of heterogeneity in the porous media properties can be very different on the fluid-flow behaviour. Difficulties may also arise in direct coupling of the model equations that govern the fluid flow in the individual regions (e.g., Navier-Stokes for free-flow region and the Darcy's equation for the porous flow region). Consequently, models of coupled free and porous flow for hydro-environmental conditions are not very well developed at the moment. While there are some indications that fluids in coupled free and porous domains may circulate (i.e., development of flow cells), there is a lack of appropriate 3D analysis on how heterogeneities in porous media may affect such flow patterns. In this paper, we aim to analyse how porous media heterogeneity affects the dynamics of flow circulation in the porous side of a coupled free and porous domain. For this purpose, we analyse flow patterns in several model domains made up of two porous layers with differing permeabilities. The governing model equations are discretised and solved using the standard finite volume method on a staggered cell-centred mesh. The temporal discretisation is done using the explicit method. An in-house graphical user interface (GUI) has been created specifically to aid in the visualisation of otherwise complex flow patterns. The GUI contains many post-processing options and provides a comprehensive tool for the analysis of hydrodynamics and contaminant motion (not discussed in this paper) in coupled free and porous flow domains. This GUI is described in this paper briefly. The effects of altering the aspect ratio (i.e., multi-scale) of the domain on the coupled flow pattern have also been discussed.     

An integrated radiotracer approach for the laboratory evaluation of scale inhibitors performance in geological environments

The applicability of a newly developed radiotracer technique as a reliable laboratory procedure for the evaluation of scale inhibitors performance to prevent mineral precipitation is demonstrated. The performance of two new environmentally friendly inhibitors to prevent calcite and barite scale was evaluated experimentally in connection with a standard phosphonate-type scale inhibitor using the radioactive tracer technology. The radiotracers ⁴⁷Ca and ¹³¹Ba were employed in order to monitor at real-time calcite and barite scale formation, respectively. The results show that the developed radiotracer technique can be established as a novel method for the determination of the minimum inhibitor concentration (MIC) under dynamic, reservoir conditions. In addition, the radioactive tritiated water (HTO) was used as a reference water tracer to identify the inhibitors’ properties, such as adsorption/desorption characteristics, in sandpack-flooding tests. Further issues regarding the implementation of the radiotracer technology for the laboratory evaluation of scale inhibitors performance are also discussed.     

地下水多孔介质中胶体与污染物协同运移规律研究进展

在总结国内外地下水中污染物运移规律研究的基础上,阐述了地下水多孔介质中胶体与污染物协同运移的研究进展。讨论了胶体运移的基本过程、相关机理,探究污染物-胶体-微生物(生物胶体)协同运移的作用方式、影响因素、实验分析、模型构造,并指出该领域目前研究存在的主要问题,以及对该领域研究趋势的展望。     

Explicit numerical simulation of suspension flow with deposition in porous media: influence of local flow field variation on deposition processes predicted by trajectory methods

A new explicit numerical simulation (ENS) method based on lattice-gas automata (LGA) is introduced here for the flow of solid/fluid suspensions with deposition in porous media. The ENS method explicitly resolves the dynamics of the individual solid particles and the suspending fluid in the domain defined by the pore walls and solid particle surfaces. After describing the new method, it is applied to the study of solid/fluid suspension flow with deposition in a constriction and in a model random porous solid. This study clearly demonstrates that the deposits strongly influence the local flow fields, which in turn affect the deposition process indicating that this interplay should be modelled if accurate results are desired from trajectory methods.     

THERMAL CONVECTIVE INSTABILITY IN TRANSLUCENT POROUS MEDIA WITH RADIATIVE HEAT TRANSFER

The onset of thermal convection in a translucent porous layer is considered. Attention is focused on the effect of radiative heat transfer on the critical Rayleigh-Darcy number and the convection cell shape. If we consider the contribution of radiative heat transfer, the basic temperature profile is non-linear and the thermal convective instability is influenced by the ratio of conduction to radiation heat flux, the temperatures at the boundary surfaces, and radiative parameters such as wall emissivity, scattering albedo and extinction coefficient as well as the usual Rayleigh-Darcy number. Effects of these parameters on the onset of convective instability are investigated with the help of linear stability theory employing the Darcy's law and the radiative transport equation simplified by the P₁ approximation. The increased effective thermal conductivity due lo the radiation inhibits the onset of convection and causes increased critical Rayleigh-Darcy number and decreased convection cell size. The results of the present work may be exploited to find out the optimal diameter of aerogel pellets and the air pressure in the double pane window filled with the translucent silica aerogel granules to suppress natural convection.     

多孔介质内部热质传递的等效耦合扩散模型的推导及其应用

基于Whitaker的体积平均方程，在不附加任何新的假设的基础上，对多孔介质内部热质传递的等效耦合扩散模型进行推导，得出了多孔介质内部热质传递的等效耦合扩散模型。并应用该模型对瓷质砖体干燥过程进行了数值模拟，模拟结果与实验结果十分吻合。     

吸湿介质对碳纤维增强铸型尼龙复合材料的吸湿行为及力学性能的影响

本文对碳纤维增强铸型尼龙(CF／MC 尼龙)复合材料在不同吸湿介质中的吸湿行为进行了研究。结果表明，对于纤维体积分数为10％的碳纤维增强铸型尼龙复合材料(10％CF／MC尼龙复合材料)，随着吸湿介质的PH值减小，它的吸湿率增大。同时，经过吸湿后，10％CF／MC尼龙复合材料的弯曲强度有明显的下降。随着吸湿介质的PH值减小，试样的弯曲强度下降。使用环境扫描电子显微镜观察在10％HCl溶液中吸湿的试样的剪切断口形貌，得到的结果与吸湿实验的结果一致。     

提高Φ2.2 m×7.5 m矿渣磨产量和细度的措施

福建三明水泥厂矿渣和熟料易磨性不同,制约了 2.2 m×6.5m闭路水泥磨系统的产质量,导致产量低仅12 t/h;矿渣掺量低,仅7％;水泥强度低R28仅达47.0MPa。为此该厂增加了2台 2.2m×7.5m开流磨单独粉磨矿渣,实现熟料矿渣分别粉磨工艺。同时对 2_2m×6.5m矿渣磨进行结构改造和工艺操作参数调整。这样二套粉磨系统可根据熟料和矿渣的不同粉磨特性分别进行操作控制,工厂实现了高产高质,高矿渣掺量(达15％)和低成本生产。     

EVAPORATION FROM POROUS MEDIA: A CAPILLARY MODEL OF A PENETRATING FRONT

A capillary tube model was solved to investigate the influence of mass transfer coefficient, temperature, and front depth on the evaporation rate during the penetrating-front period of water-filled porous media dried in hot air. The results show that increasing the flow rate of the drying air is not so efficient as increasing the sample temperature. Due to attenuating diffusion rate, the rate of liquid front migration decreases with time. The calculations explain the falling rate period behavior of sandstone heated at 121°C. Trends depicted by the model may be useful for the design of heating conditions for drying processes.