The Complexity of Porous Media Flow Characterized in a Microfluidic Model Based on Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy and Micro-PIV

The Complexity of Porous Media Flow Characterized in a Microfluidic Model Based on Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy and Micro-PIV

Matthijs de Winter, Kilian Weishaupt, Stefan Scheller, Steffen Frey, Amir Raoof, Majid Hassanizadeh, Rainer Helmig

Steady-state single-phase fluid flow through a regular pore pattern surely is not complicated! Well, based on confocal microscopy, micro-PIV and computer simulations, we draw a different conclusion. We postulate that predicting hydrodynamic dispersion requires streamline routing combined with Brownian diffusion. Streamline routing has not yet been solved for complex pore geometries (can only be extracted from experimental/simulation data), while Brownian diffusion (low to moderate Peclet numbers) requires considering the history of individual streamlines. While simple Poiseuille flow quickly develops in pores, the time-of-arrival of solutes varies randomly across those same pores, as shown in our experimental and simulation data.

Transport in Porous Media (2020), doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-020-01515-9
Corresponding Author: Matthijs de Winter