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Modeling flow in disordered packed beds from pore‐scale fluid mechanics
Author(s) -
Thompson Karsten E.,
Fogler H. Scott
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.690430602
Subject(s) - mechanics , porous medium , flow (mathematics) , scale (ratio) , fluid dynamics , network model , compressibility , residence time (fluid dynamics) , fluid mechanics , dispersion (optics) , scale model , statistical physics , materials science , porosity , computer science , geology , physics , engineering , geotechnical engineering , artificial intelligence , quantum mechanics , aerospace engineering , optics
Network models are an effective means of incorporating pore‐scale heterogeneity into flow models of porous materials. The drawback to these models used to be the inability to obtain quantitative macroscopic parameters representing larger (experimental‐scale) media. However, recently developed modeling techniques, combined with more widely available computational resources, make the simulation of macroscopic parameters from a network approach viable. A network model for the slow flow of an incompressible fluid in disordered packed beds is presented. Fundamental fluid mechanics equations are solved at the pore scale and then translated to macroscopic behaviour using a network approach. The results reproduce experimental permeabilities and show excellent quantitative fits to residence time distributions for mechanical dispersion in real beds. Simulations of the RTD are of special interest, because they are definitive links between pore‐scale flow behavior and macroscopic responses.