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Investigating liquid-fronts during spontaneous imbibition of liquids in industrial wicks. Part II: Validation by DNS
  • M. Amin F. Zarandi,
  • Krishna Pillai,
  • Abul Hasan
M. Amin F. Zarandi
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Krishna Pillai
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
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Abul Hasan
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
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Abstract

To validate the experimental results of Part-1, we conducted a two-phase flow simulation of imbibition of a wetting liquid through 2D microstructures made of ellipses of varying aspect ratios. The flow simulation in the particulate microstructures, characterized by low (ellipse) aspect ratio, produced somewhat even micro-fronts, thus replicating the sharp fronts at the visual (macroscopic) scale observed in Part-1. Whereas simulations in the fibrous microstructures produced highly uneven micro-fronts, suggesting the formation of semi-sharp or diffuse visual fronts. Increasing the porosity from 50% to 70% resulted in solid-phase clustering and led to further increase in the unevenness of micro-fronts, pointing to purely diffuse visual fronts. The evolution of the saturation plots along the flow direction, obtained from area-averaging of fluid-distribution plots, pointed to diffusing of sharp fronts with time. The predictions matched our previous experimental observations, i.e., the particulate media create sharp fronts while the fibrous media create semi-sharp/diffuse fronts.
25 Mar 2022Submitted to AIChE Journal
27 Mar 2022Submission Checks Completed
27 Mar 2022Assigned to Editor
29 Mar 2022Reviewer(s) Assigned
06 May 2022Editorial Decision: Revise Minor
18 May 20221st Revision Received
24 May 2022Submission Checks Completed
24 May 2022Assigned to Editor
31 May 2022Editorial Decision: Accept
Nov 2022Published in AIChE Journal volume 68 issue 11. 10.1002/aic.17807