화학공학소재연구정보센터
Transport in Porous Media, Vol.116, No.3, 1031-1055, 2017
On Vibration-Induced Fluid and Particle Motion in Unconsolidated Porous Media: Observations and Dimensional Scaling Analysis
Vibrations are omnipresent. They arise in laboratories, pilot plants, industrial facilities and in natural settings from manmade or natural sources. Their impacts on fluid behavior from movement to interfacial mass transfer and reaction outcomes remain poorly understood. In this work, a scaling approach is developed and applied to the assessment of vibration-induced phenomena in bubble-fluid-unconsolidated solid media systems. The impacts of the interactions among these phenomena are illustrated. The analysis is supported by experimental measurements related to the motion of single-phase liquids, two-phase liquids and liquid + dispersed gas bubbles within unconsolidated porous media, observed using a UV fluorescence technique, at 50 and 500 Hz in a dynamic pressure view cell. Transmitted pressures with peak-to-peak amplitudes of 50 kPa are measured after flowing through a 4 Darcy bed of D50 sand particles. When bubbles are present in vibrating systems, bubble-related phenomena are shown to dominate all other effects. Bubbles far from or near resonant size, or formed and grown to resonant size disrupt interfacial forces holding non-wetting phases in unconsolidated media; cause media compaction and media and liquid motion; and mixing of fluids. These observations, described and discussed on the basis of high-resolution still and video imagery, are placed into context using dimensional analysis. The application of vibration to bubbles in porous media allows for potential applications such as improved well connectivity, gas mass transfer and particle or immiscible fluid delivery/removal. This paper is in Robert Stewart's PhD thesis, University of Alberta, 2016.