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Article

Pore-Scale Evolution of Effective Properties in Porous Rocks During Dissolution/Erosion and Precipitation

1
Petroleum Exploration and Production Research Institute, Sinopec, Beijing 100083, China
2
Institute of Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
3
CAS Key Laboratory of Mineralogy and Metallogeny Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mineral Physics and Material, Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China
4
School of Engineering Science, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Appl. Sci. 2026, 16(3), 1287; https://doi.org/10.3390/app16031287
Submission received: 17 December 2025 / Revised: 16 January 2026 / Accepted: 20 January 2026 / Published: 27 January 2026
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geochemistry and Geochronology of Rocks)

Abstract

Reactive transport in porous media exists ubiquitously in natural and industrial systems—reformation of geological energy repository, carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration, CO2 storage via mineralization, and soil remediation are just some examples where geo-/bio-chemical reactions play a key role. Reactive transport models are expected to provide assessments of (1) the effective property variation and (2) the reaction capability. However, the synergy among flow, solute transport, and reaction undermines the predictability of the existing model. In recent decades, the Micro-Continuum Approach (MCA) has demonstrated advantages for modeling pore-scale reactive transport and high accuracy compared with experiments. In this study, we present an MCA-based numerical framework that simulates dissolution/erosion or precipitation in digital rocks. The framework imports two- or three-dimensional digital rock samples, conducts reactive transport simulations, and evaluates dynamic changes in porosity, surface area, permeability tensor, tortuosity, mass change, and reaction rate. The results show that samples with similar effective properties, e.g., porosity or permeability, may exhibit different reaction abilities, suggesting that the pore-scale geometry has a strong impact on reactive transport. Additionally, the numerical framework demonstrates the advantage of conducting multiple reaction studies on the same sample, in contrast to reality, where there is often only one physical experiment. This advantage enables the identification of the optimal condition, quantified by the dimensionless Péclet number and Damköhler number, to reach the maximum reaction. We believe that the newly developed framework serves as a toolbox for evaluating reactivity capacity and predicting effective properties of digital samples.
Keywords: micro-continuum approach; reactive transport; heterogeneity micro-continuum approach; reactive transport; heterogeneity

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Wang, X.; Zheng, S.; He, Y.; Wang, Y.; Liu, E.; Zhang, Y.; Yang, F.; Ling, B. Pore-Scale Evolution of Effective Properties in Porous Rocks During Dissolution/Erosion and Precipitation. Appl. Sci. 2026, 16, 1287. https://doi.org/10.3390/app16031287

AMA Style

Wang X, Zheng S, He Y, Wang Y, Liu E, Zhang Y, Yang F, Ling B. Pore-Scale Evolution of Effective Properties in Porous Rocks During Dissolution/Erosion and Precipitation. Applied Sciences. 2026; 16(3):1287. https://doi.org/10.3390/app16031287

Chicago/Turabian Style

Wang, Xiaoyu, Songqing Zheng, Yingfu He, Yujie Wang, Enhao Liu, Yandong Zhang, Fengchang Yang, and Bowen Ling. 2026. "Pore-Scale Evolution of Effective Properties in Porous Rocks During Dissolution/Erosion and Precipitation" Applied Sciences 16, no. 3: 1287. https://doi.org/10.3390/app16031287

APA Style

Wang, X., Zheng, S., He, Y., Wang, Y., Liu, E., Zhang, Y., Yang, F., & Ling, B. (2026). Pore-Scale Evolution of Effective Properties in Porous Rocks During Dissolution/Erosion and Precipitation. Applied Sciences, 16(3), 1287. https://doi.org/10.3390/app16031287

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