Anomalous imbibition of non-Newtonian fluids in porous media. (16th January 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yang, Xu; Liang, Yingjie; Chen, Wen
• Is Part Of: Chemical engineering science. Volume 211(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-01-16
• Subjects: Anomalous imbibition -- Non-Newtonian fluid -- Fractional calculus -- Modeling; Chemical engineering -- Periodicals; Génie chimique -- Périodiques; Chemical engineering; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 660
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ces.2019.115265
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0009-2509

Abstract

Highlights: A spatiotemporal fractional imbibition model is proposed for anomalous imbibition. The new model links the characteristic parameters to the features of anomalous imbibition. This work provides a potential approach to study anomalous imbibition. Abstract: The imbibition of a complex fluid in porous media often exhibits anomalous behavior, which is dominated by multiple time-spatial scales. In this work, a spatiotemporal fractional imbibition model (SFIM) is proposed to capture anomalous imbibition. The anomalous exponent and the non-Newtonian index of SFIM are introduced to characterize the heterogeneity of porous media and the nonlocality of the non-Newtonian fluid. It is found that the anomalous exponent is inversely proportional to the fractal dimension of tortuosity. The non-Newtonian index unveils the radius variation due to the interaction between the non-Newtonian fluid and the interface of porous media. In addition, the proposed model is superior to the Lucas-Washburn model (LWM) with respect to the experimental data of oil and epoxy resin. This work is provided as a preliminary probe into a study on anomalous imbibition via fractional calculus.