Tomographic Study of Internal Erosion of Particle Flows in Porous Media

TL;DR

This study uses neutron tomography to investigate how internal flow path reorganization causes permeability jumps during particle erosion in porous media, enhancing understanding of clogging phenomena relevant to various engineering applications.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed mechanistic insight into flow path reorganization during internal erosion using neutron tomography.

Findings

Permeability exhibits significant jumps during erosion.

Flow path reorganization causes permeability changes.

Neutron tomography visualizes pore space evolution.

Abstract

In particle-laden flows through porous media, porosity and permeability are significantly affected by the deposition and erosion of particles. Experiments show that the permeability evolution of a porous medium with respect to a particle suspension is not smooth, but rather exhibits significant jumps followed by longer periods of continuous permeability decrease. Their origin seems to be related to internal flow path reorganization by avalanches of deposited material due to erosion inside the porous medium. We apply neutron tomography to resolve the spatio-temporal evolution of the pore space during clogging and unclogging to prove the hypothesis of flow path reorganization behind the permeability jumps. This mechanistic understanding of clogging phenomena is relevant for a number of applications from oil production to filters or suffosion as the mechanisms behind sinkhole formation.