Drying in porous media is of interest to many research and engineering fields, such as recovery of volatile hydrocarbons from underground oil reservoirs, remediation of contaminant soils by vapor extraction, and water management in gas diffusion layers (GDLs) of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs).
The drying process in a porous material is dependent on the structure and wettability...
Abstract
Porous asphalt pavements are often used to reduce runoff and improve the highway security. As a result, water may be retained in the internal pore structure of porous asphalt roads. The ability of asphalt material to dry after exposure to water may affect its functionality and durability thus it is important to understand water evaporation process from asphalt.
We have conducted...
One of the innovative application of cellulose fibers is the desalination of masonry structures in the field of architectural heritage conservation [1]. Wet poultices, classically composed of cellulose fibers and clays, are coated on the porous material to be treated, and kept in place before being removed when dry. The efficiency of the process partly depends on the drying behavior of the...
Several mathematical models with various degrees of complexity and accuracy have been developed to describe the dynamics of drying porous media. At the effective medium scale, a continuum approximation is used and the transport phenomena are described by a set of partial differential equations [1]. While classical and extremely useful, and in spite of many studies, the continuum models (CMs)...
Pore-scale water content controls the function of soil microbial communities by modulating the hydraulic connectivity of microbial communities and the flux of aqueous and gaseous substrates. In turn, soil bacteria regulate local moisture within porous structure through the secretion of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). EPS promotes water retention as hydrogel in several ways: (i) by...
Oil-water emulsion injection has shown significant potential as an Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) method. Experimental results revealed that drop size, drop concentration and local capillary number as the most relevant parameters affecting emulsion performance as water phase mobility control agent.
Emulsion injection in real reservoirs and production predictions requires a deep understanding of...
