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Image-Based Micro-Scale Modeling of Flow in Porous Media

Riasi, Mohammad Sadegh
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2616-8373
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1573571958611787

Abstract Details

2019, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Engineering and Applied Science: Environmental Engineering.
Porous materials are ubiquitous in nature and widely employed in many products and devices. Examples range from soil, living tissues, filters, and absorbent materials to fuel cells and microfluidic devices, driving the need to better understand the structure and processes in these materials. Their distinct properties, however, present new challenges in experimental and numerical characterization. Computer simulation of single-phase and multi-phase flow (e.g. air-water or oil-water systems) in porous media has been an indispensable tool in better understanding of the multi-phase flow phenomenon in complex porous structures as well as in porous systems design. In order to simulate fluid flow in a porous system, several constitutive relations are required that relate pore scale processes to physics of flow in continuum scale; such as capillary pressure-saturation curve, relative permeability-saturation curve and absolute permeability, to name a few. These relations used to be derived experimentally, but in the last few decades micro-scale (i.e. pore-scale) modeling approaches has gradually replaced the expensive experiments. Despite the success in micro-scale modeling and characterization of traditional low-porosity media (e.g. soil), implementing similar micro-modeling approaches on non-traditional porous structures has faced serious challenges. The objective of this dissertation is to address some of the challenges. Specifically homogeneous materials on the opposite ends of the porosity spectrum, as well as heterogeneous, hierarchical materials with gradient of pore size. In the category of homogeneous materials, I consider highly porous fibrous materials with porosity of above 80% (Chapter 2) and coals with porosity of under 5% (Chapter 3). In the heterogeneous category, I consider block copolymer ultrafiltration membranes with asymmetric hierarchical microstructure (Chapter 4). In Chapter 2, I introduce and develop Pore Topology Method (PTM), which is a micro-scale modeling approach designed to model flow using the 3D digital image of the porous structure. The proposed approach is a fast, algorithmically simple method that reduces the complexity of the 3-D void space geometry to its topologically consistent medial surface, and uses it as a solution domain for single- and multi-phase flow simulations. Throughout Chapters 2-3, PTM is used to simulate single- and two-phase flow in fibrous materials with 25%-95% porosity, as well as coal samples with porosity of under 5%. My study shows that PTM results for absolute/relative permeability and quasi-static drainage and imbibition simulations are in excellent agreement with other numerical methods, analytical solutions, and experimental data. In chapter 4, in the absence of a high-resolution 3D image for block copolymers ultrafiltration membranes, a Stochastic Pore Network Model (SPNM) is developed. The proposed 3D SPNM uses stochastic data collected from 2D SEM images and constructs a network model to compute permeability of the membrane. Comparing with experimental permeability values for two ultrafiltration membranes, excellent agreement was observed.
Lilit Yeghiazarian-Nistor, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
James Comer, Jr, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Drew McAvoy, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Mohamad Reza Soltanian Pereshkafti (Committee Member)
99 p.
Hydrology
Porous Media; Micro-scale; Fibrous Material; Coal Seam; Ultrafiltration Membrane; Pore Topology Method

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Riasi, M. S. (2019). Image-Based Micro-Scale Modeling of Flow in Porous Media [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1573571958611787

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Riasi, Mohammad Sadegh. Image-Based Micro-Scale Modeling of Flow in Porous Media. 2019. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1573571958611787.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Riasi, Mohammad Sadegh. "Image-Based Micro-Scale Modeling of Flow in Porous Media." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1573571958611787

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin1573571958611787
46
© 2019, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Image-Based Micro-Scale Modeling of Flow in Porous Media by Mohammad Sadegh Riasi is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.