Search Results (10)

Oil–water relative permeability is essential for reservoir development and enhanced oil recovery (EOR). Traditional core displacement experiments assume static wettability, whereas in real reservoirs, wettability evolves over time due to waterflooding and rock–fluid interactions, significantly altering flow behavior. Existing numerical methods, including conventional lattice Boltzmann models (LBM), fail to account for these changes and lead to inaccurate predictions. This study integrates laboratory-measured contact angles into a time-dependent wettability-adjusted LBM framework, ensuring real-time wettability updates during simulation. Micro-CT imaging captures oil–water displacement and contact angle evolution at different flooding stages, which are incorporated into the Shan–Chen LBM model. Results show that neglecting the time-dependent wettability overestimates the residual oil saturation and underestimates the water-phase permeability. In contrast, our method reduces the residual oil saturation by up to 35% and expands the two-phase flow region by 15%, aligning closely with experimental observations. This approach enhances the accuracy of relative permeability modeling, providing a more reliable tool for optimizing waterflooding strategies and improving oil recovery efficiency. Full article

The two-phase seepage fluid (i.e., air and water) behaviors in undisturbed granite residual soil (U-GRS) have not been comprehensively studied due to a lack of accurate and representative models of its internal pore structure. By leveraging X-ray computed tomography (CT) along with the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) enhanced by the Shan–Chen model, this study simulates the impact of internal pore characteristics of U-GRS on the water–gas two-phase seepage flow behaviors. Our findings reveal that the fluid demonstrates a preference for larger and straighter channels for seepage, and as seepage progresses, the volume fraction of the water/gas phases exhibits an initial increase/decrease trend, eventually stabilizing. The results show the dependence of two-phase seepage velocity on porosity, while the local seepage velocity is influenced by the distribution and complexity of the pore structure. This emphasizes the need to consider pore distribution and connectivity when studying two-phase flow in undisturbed soil. It is observed that the residual gas phase persists within the pore space, primarily localized at the pore margins and dead spaces. Furthermore, the study identifies that hydrophobic walls repel adjacent fluids, thereby accelerating fluid movement, whereas hydrophilic walls attract fluids, inducing a viscous effect that decelerates fluid flow. Consequently, the two-phase flow rate is found to increase with then-enhanced hydrophobicity. The apex of the water-phase volume fraction is observed under hydrophobic wall conditions, reaching up to 96.40%, with the residual gas-phase constituting 3.60%. The hydrophilic wall retains more residual gas-phase volume fraction than the neutral wall, followed by the hydrophobic wall. Conclusively, the investigations using X-ray CT and LBM demonstrate that the pore structure characteristics and the wettability of the pore walls significantly influence the two-phase seepage process. Full article

This work presents the numerical modeling of a droplet’s sessile and dynamic behavior on a grooved surface. A droplet is placed on horizontal and vertical sliding conditions to observe its behavior under wettable and non-wettable conditions. The numerical analysis uses the multicomponent multiphase Shan-Chen Lattice Boltzmann Model (SC-LBM). The Cassie–Baxter and Wenzel states are reproduced for the sessile condition, and the enhancement of the contact angle is appreciated under the action of the grooved-ridged horizontal surface. The sliding droplet is analyzed through the Bond number by varying the ratio between the body force and the surface tension number. For Cassie–Baxter and Wenzel wettability conditions, a critical Bond number was discovered above which the sliding droplet will continue to deform indefinitely. The numerical model proved its suitability to predict the gradual deformation of a droplet over a grooved vertical surface subject to a tangential body force until the droplet eventually reaches a sessile condition or a breakup. Full article

Membrane distillation (MD) is a thermally driven separation process that is operated below boiling point. Since the performance of MD modules is still comparatively low, current research aims to improve the understanding of the membrane structure and its underlying mechanisms at the pore level. Based on existing realistic 3D membrane geometries (up to 0.5 billion voxels with $39\mathrm{nm}$ resolution) obtained from ptychographic X-ray computed tomography, the D3Q27 lattice Boltzmann (LB) method was used to investigate the interaction of the liquid and gaseous phase with the porous membrane material. In particular, the Shan and Chen multi-phase model was used to simulate multi-phase flow at the pore level. We investigated the liquid entry pressure of different membrane samples and analysed the influence of different micropillar structures on the Wenzel and Cassie–Baxter state of water droplets on rough hydrophobic surfaces. Moreover, we calculated the liquid entry pressure required for entering the membrane pores and extracted realistic water contact surfaces for different membrane samples. The influence of the micropillars and flow on the water-membrane contact surface was investigated. Finally, we determined the air–water interface within a partially saturated membrane, finding that the droplet size and distribution correlated with the porosity of the membrane. Full article

The original Shan-Chen’s pseudopotential Lattice Boltzmann Model (LBM) has continuously evolved during the past two decades. However, despite its capability to simulate multiphase flows, the model still faces challenges when applied to multicomponent-multiphase flows in complex geometries with a moderately high-density ratio. Furthermore, classical cubic equations of state usually incorporated into the model cannot accurately predict fluid thermodynamics in the near-critical region. This paper addresses these issues by incorporating a crossover Peng–Robinson equation of state into LBM and further improving the model to consider the density and the critical temperature differences between the CO₂ and water during the injection of the CO₂ in a water-saturated 2D homogeneous porous medium. The numerical model is first validated by analyzing the supercritical CO₂ penetration into a single narrow channel initially filled with H₂O, depicting the fundamental role of the driving pressure gradient to overcome the capillary resistance in near one and higher density ratios. Significant differences are observed by extending the model to the injection of CO₂ into a 2D homogeneous porous medium when using a flat versus a curved inlet velocity profile. Full article

The dynamic two-phase flow in porous media was theoretically developed based on mass, momentum conservation, and fundamental constitutive relationships for simulating immiscible fluid-fluid retention behavior and seepage in the natural geomaterial. The simulation of transient two-phase flow seepage is, therefore, dependent on both the hydraulic boundaries applied and the immiscible fluid-fluid retention behavior experimentally measured. Many previous studies manifested the velocity-dependent capillary pressure–saturation relationship (P_c-S) and relative permeability (K_r-S). However, those works were experimentally conducted on a continuum scale. To discover the dynamic effects from the microscale, the Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) is usually adopted as a novel method. Compared to the conventional CFD methods solving Naiver–Stokes (NS) equations incorporated with the fluid phase separation schemes, the two-phase Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) can generate the immiscible fluid-fluid interface using the fluid-fluid/solid interactions at a microscale. Therefore, the Shan–Chen multiphase multicomponent LBM was conducted in this study to simulate the transient two-phase flow in porous media. The simulation outputs demonstrate a preferential flow path in porous media after the non-wetting phase fluid is injected until, finally, the void space is fully occupied by the non-wetting phase fluid. In addition, the inter-relationships for each pair of continuum state variables for a Representative Elementary Volume (REV) of porous media were analyzed for further exploring the dynamic nonequilibrium effects. On one hand, the simulating outcomes reconfirmed previous findings that the dynamic effects are dependent on both the transient seepage velocity and interfacial area dynamics. Nevertheless, in comparison to many previous experimental studies showing the various distances between the parallelly dynamic and static P_c-S relationships by applying various constant flux boundary conditions, this study is the first contribution showing the P_c-S striking into the nonequilibrium condition to yield dynamic nonequilibrium effects and finally returning to the equilibrium static P_c-S by applying various pressure boundary conditions. On the other hand, the flow regimes and relative permeability were discussed with this simulating results in regards to the appropriateness of neglecting inertial effects (both accelerating and convective) in multiphase hydrodynamics for a highly pervious porous media. Based on those research findings, the two-phase LBM can be demonstrated to be a powerful tool for investigating dynamic nonequilibrium effects for transient multiphase flow in porous media from the microscale to the REV scale. Finally, future investigations were proposed with discussions on the limitations of this numerical modeling method. Full article

This paper presents a comparative study between the pseudopotential Shan-Chen model and the phase field multiphase lattice Boltzmann method for simulating bubble dynamics during dendritic solidification of binary alloys. The Shan-Chen method is an efficient lattice Boltzmann multiphase method despite having some limitations, including the generation of large spurious currents. The phase field model solves the Cahn-Hilliard equation in addition to the Navier-Stokes equation to track the interface between phases. The phase field method is more accurate than the Shan-Chen model for simulation of fluids with a high-density ratio since it generates an acceptable small spurious current, though at the expense of higher computational costs. For the simulations in this article, the multiphase lattice Boltzmann model was coupled with the cellular automata and finite difference methods to solve temperature and concentration fields. The simulated results were presented and compared regarding the ability of each model to simulate phenomena at a microscale resolution, such as Marangoni convection, the magnitude of spurious current, and the computational costs. It is shown that although Shan-Chen methods can replicate some qualitative features of bubble-dendrite interaction, the generated spurious current is unacceptably large, particularly for practical values of the density ratio between fluid and gas phases. This occurs even after implementation of several enhancements to the original Shan-Chen method. This serious limitation makes the Shan-Chen models unsuitable to simulate fluid flow phenomena, such as Marangoni convection, because the large spurious currents mask completely the physical flow. Full article

In this paper, an improved lattice Boltzmann Shan‒Chen model coupled with Carnahan-Starling equation of state (C-S EOS) and the exact differential method (EDM) force scheme is used to simulate the cavitation bubble collapse in the near-wall region. First, the collapse of a single cavitation bubble in the near-wall region was simulated; the results were in good agreement with the physical experiment and the stability of the model was verified. Then the simulated model was used to simulate the collapse of two cavitation bubbles in the near-wall region. The main connection between the two cavitation bubble centre lines and the wall surface had a 45° angle and parallel and the evolution law of cavitation bubbles in the near-wall region is obtained. Finally, the effects of a single cavitation bubble and double cavitation bubble on the wall surface in the near-wall region are compared, which can be used to study the method to reduce the influence of cavitation on solid materials in practical engineering. The cavitation bubble collapse process under a two-dimensional pressure field is visualized, and the flow field is used to describe the morphological changes of cavitation bubble collapse in the near-wall region. The improved lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) Shan‒Chen model has many advantages in simulating cavitation problems, and will provide a reference for further simulations. Full article

In porous media, pore geometry and wettability are determinant factors for capillary flow in drainage or imbibition. Pores are often considered as cylindrical tubes in analytical or computational studies. Such simplification prevents the capture of phenomena occurring in pore corners. Considering the corners of pores is crucial to realistically study capillary flow and to accurately estimate liquid distribution, degree of saturation and dynamic liquid behavior in pores and in porous media. In this study, capillary flow in polygonal tubes is studied with the Shan-Chen pseudopotential multiphase lattice Boltzmann model (LBM). The LB model is first validated through a contact angle test and a capillary intrusion test. Then capillary rise in square and triangular tubes is simulated and the pore meniscus height is investigated as a function of contact angle θ. Also, the occurrence of fluid in the tube corners, referred to as corner arc menisci, is studied in terms of curvature versus degree of saturation. In polygonal capillary tubes, the number of sides leads to a critical contact angle θ_c which is known as a key parameter for the existence of the two configurations. LBM succeeds in simulating the formation of a pore meniscus at θ > θ_c or the occurrence of corner arc menisci at θ < θ_c. The curvature of corner arc menisci is known to decrease with increasing saturation and decreasing contact angle as described by the Mayer and Stoewe-Princen (MS-P) theory. We obtain simulation results that are in good qualitative and quantitative agreement with the analytical solutions in terms of height of pore meniscus versus contact angle and curvature of corner arc menisci versus saturation degree. LBM is a suitable and promising tool for a better understanding of the complicated phenomena of multiphase flow in porous media. Full article

The surface characteristics, such as wettability and roughness, play an important role in heat transfer performance in the field of microfluidic flow. In this paper, the process of a hot liquid flowing through a microchannel with cold walls, which possesses different surface wettabilities and microstructures, is simulated by a transient double-distribution function (DDF) two-phase thermal lattice Boltzmann BGK (LBGK) model. The Shan-Chen multiphase LBGK model is used to describe the flow field and the independent distribution function is introduced to solve the temperature field. The simulation results show that the roughness of the channel wall improves the heat transfer, no matter what the surface wettability is. These simulations reveal that the heat exchange characteristics are directly related to the flow behavior. For the smooth-superhydrophobic-surface flow, a gas film forms that acts as an insulating layer since the thermal conductivity of the gas is relatively small in comparison to that of a liquid. In case of the rough-superhydrophobic-surface flow, the vortex motion of the gas within the grooves significantly enhances the heat exchange between the fluid and wall. Full article