Lattice Boltzmann Study of the Interstitial Hydrodynamics and Dispersion in Steady Inertial Flows in Large Randomly Packed Beds

Applying the lattice Boltzmann method, a systematic numerical investigation of interstitial fluid dynamics and dispersion in two-dimensional packed beds in the inertial regime (post-Stokes flow) is undertaken starting from first principles. Long exponential tails are found in the histograms of both interstitial velocity components for low porosity packed beds, showing agreement with experimental results reported in the literature. The permeability (which is proportional to the ratio of the filtration velocity to the streamwise macroscopic pressure gradient) is computed via ensemble averaging, and the transition from the linear (Darcy) regime to the inertial (Forchheimer) regime is quantified. Disorder is shown to play a critical role on dispersion in packed beds. In contrast to predictions based on regular periodic media, low porosity simulations for randomly packed beds predict a significant increase in the lateral dispersivity with Peclet number in complete agreement with experimental data. For longitudinal dispersion, disorder is shown to lead to a slightly superlinear increase in dispersivity with Peclet number in accordance with experimental findings.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Noble, David Ronald

Contributors dc:contributor

• Georgiadis, J.G.
• Buckius, R.O.

• Engineering, Chemical

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI9717318

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/83950