Mathematical Simulation of Mass Transport in Porous Media: An Innovative Method to Match Geometrical and Transport Parameters for Scale Transition

作者：Gavriil G; Vakouftsi E; Coutelieris Frank A^*

来源：Drying Technology, 2014, 32(7): 781-792.

DOI：10.1080/07373937.2013.858263

• Scale-down
• Transport processes
• Porous media
• Modeling
• Scale-up

The scale-up and scale-down process is of great importance regarding modeling of mass transport phenomena in porous media. Three numerical simulations of porous media for three different scales were developed and validated in this study, analyzing the mass transport phenomena for each scale. More precisely, the first system is a spheres assemblage of various spatial distributions and sizes (mesoscopic), the second is a porous box (macroscopic), and the third is a sphere-in-cell model (microscopic). It was found that the porous structure-shape, size, and positioning-of the spheres at the mesoscopic scale have significant effects on the adsorption efficiency (up to 10%) of highly convective regimes. It was also concluded that a microscopic description at the pore scale is insufficient to adequately describe mass transport phenomena in porous media due to discontinuities of the structure and high local velocity. By comparing the results from the three scales, we obtained a method of matching all geometrical, flow, and transport parameters when a scale transition occurs. The qualitative description of transport phenomena through the three scales and their identical behavior demonstrates the method%26apos;s effectiveness.

• 出版日期2014-5-19