Visualization and simulation of bubble growth in pore networks
Bubble nucleation and bubble growth in porous media is an important problem encountered in processes, such as pressure depletion and boiling. To understand its basic aspects, experiments and numerical simulations in micromodel geometries were undertaken. Experiments of bubble growth by pressure depletion were carried out in 2-D etched-glass micromodels and in Hele-Shaw cells. Nucleation of bubbles and the subsequent growth of gas clusters were visualized. Contrary to the bulk or to Hele-Shaw cells, gas clusters in the micromodel have irregular and ramified shapes and share many of the features of an external invasion process (e.g. of percolation during drainage). A pore network numerical model was developed to simulate the growth of multiple gas clusters under various conditions. The model is based on the solution of the convection-diffusions equation and also accounts for capillary and viscous forces, which play an important role in determining the growth patterns. Numerical simulation resulted in good agreement with the experimental results.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- FG22-93BC14899
- OSTI ID:
- 10132010
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/BC/14899-9; ON: DE94000116; BR: AC1505100
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Mar 1994
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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