Fan, D;
Chapman, E;
Khan, A;
Iacoviello, F;
Mikutis, G;
Pini, R;
Striolo, A;
(2022)
Anomalous transport of colloids in heterogeneous porous media: A multi-scale statistical theory.
Journal of Colloid and Interface Science
, 617
pp. 94-105.
10.1016/j.jcis.2022.02.127.
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Abstract
HYPOTHESIS: Transport of suspended colloids in heterogeneous porous media is a multi-scale process that exhibits anomalous behavior and cannot be described by the Fickian dispersion theory. Although many studies have documented colloids’ transport at different length scales, a theoretical basis that links pore- to core-scale observations remains lacking. It is hypothesized that a recently proposed pore-scale statistical kinetic theory is able to capture the results observed experimentally. EXPERIMENTS: We implement a multi-scale approach via conducting core-flooding experiments of colloidal particles in a sandstone sample, simulating particles flowing through a sub-volume of the rock’s digital twin, and developing a core-scale statistical theory for particles’ residence times via upscaling the pore-scale kinetic theory. Experimental and computational results for solute transport are used as benchmark. FINDINGS: Based on good agreement across the scales achieved in our investigation, we show that the macroscopically observed anomalous transport is particle-type dependent and stems from particles’ microscopic dispersion and deposition in heterogeneous flow fields. In particular, we reveal that residence-time distributions (i.e., breakthrough curve) obey a closed-form function that encompasses particles’ microscopic dynamics, which allows investigations of a whole transition from pre-asymptotic to asymptotic behavior. The physical insights attained could be useful for interpreting experimental data and designing colloidal tracers.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Anomalous transport of colloids in heterogeneous porous media: A multi-scale statistical theory |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.02.127 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcis.2022.02.127 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | Particulate flow, colloid, porous media, multi-scale approach, anomalous transport, statistical theory |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Chemical Engineering UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10145391 |
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