The Effects of Pore Geometry on Late Time Solute Transport with the Presence of Recirculation Zone

Peijie Yang, Guangwei Wu, Sha Gu, Qin Guan and Lichun Wang
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Peijie Yang: Shandong Provincial Territorial Spatial Ecological Restoration Center, Jinan 250014, China
Guangwei Wu: Shandong Provincial Territorial Spatial Ecological Restoration Center, Jinan 250014, China
Sha Gu: 801 Institute of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, Shandong Provincial Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources, Jinan 250014, China
Qin Guan: 801 Institute of Hydrogeology and Engineering Geology, Shandong Provincial Bureau of Geology & Mineral Resources, Jinan 250014, China
Lichun Wang: Institute of Surface-Earth System Science, School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 13, 1-9

Abstract: The solute transport process in porous media is central to understanding many geophysical processes and determines the success of engineered applications. However, fundamental understanding of solute transport in heterogeneous porous media remains challenging especially when inertial effects are significant. To address this challenge, we employed direct numerical simulations in a variety of intrapore geometries at a high Reynolds number ( Re = 10) flow regime, where recirculation zones (RZs) are present with significant inertial effects. We find that the volume of RZs depends on pore geometries. Moreover, RZs serve as an immobile domain that can trap and release solutes that lead to non-Fickian transport, characterized by the early arrival and heavy tailing of breakthrough curves and bimodal residence time distributions (RTDs). Lastly, the late time portion of RTDs is fitted to the power law function with determined exponent n , where n depends on the pore geometries and consequently the volume of RZs. Our study sheds light on the mechanisms of an immobile zone on the solute transport, especially improving our understanding of late time transport tailing in pressurized heterogeneous porous media.

Keywords: solute transport; non-fickian; transport tailing; recirculation zone; porous media (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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