Analytical solution and parameter estimation for heat of wetting and vapor adsorption during spontaneous imbibition in tuff

Journal Article · Sat Jan 07 00:00:00 EST 2023 · International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2022.123814· OSTI ID:2311747

Good, Forest Taylor ^[1]; Kuhlman, Kristopher L. ^[2]; LaForce, Tara C. ^[2]; Paul, Matthew J. ^[2]; Heath, Jason Elliott ^[2]

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1. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, NM (United States)
2. Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

An analytical expression is derived for the thermal response observed during spontaneous imbibition of water into a dry core of zeolitic tuff. Sample tortuosity, thermal conductivity, and thermal source strength are estimated from fitting an analytical solution to temperature observations during a single laboratory test. Here, the closed-form analytical solution is derived using Green's functions for heat conduction in the limit of “slow” water movement; that is, when advection of thermal energy with the wetting front is negligible. The solution has four free fitting parameters and is efficient for parameter estimation. Laboratory imbibition data used to constrain the model include a time series of the mass of water imbibed, visual location of the wetting front through time, and temperature time series at six locations. The thermal front reached the end of the core hours before the visible wetting front. Thus, the predominant form of heating during imbibition in this zeolitic tuff is due to vapor adsorption in dry zeolitic rock ahead of the wetting front. The separation of the wetting front and thermal front in this zeolitic tuff is significant, compared to wetting front behavior of most materials reported in the literature. This work is the first interpretation of a thermal imbibition response to estimate transport (tortuosity) and thermal properties (including thermal conductivity) from a single laboratory test.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Sandia National Laboratories (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation
• Grant/Contract Number: NA0003525
• OSTI ID: 2311747
• Report Number(s): SAND--2023-10545J
• Journal Information: International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Journal Name: International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer Vol. 203; ISSN 0017-9310
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
heat of adsorption
heat of wetting
parameter estimation
spontaneous imbibition
zeolite