Exploring two regimes of water mobility in unsaturated expansive clay using NMR relaxometry

Eizaguirre, Pablo; Tang, Anh Minh; Maillet, Benjamin; Sidi-Boulenouar, Rahima; Talandier, Jean; Pereira, Jean-Michel; Vu, Minh Ngoc; Chabot, Baptiste; Dangla, Patrick; Bornert, Michel; Aimedieu, Patrick

doi:10.1016/j.clay.2024.107324

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…The soil's plasticity, the tendency of minerals to adsorb water, and the specific surface area of fine soil particles govern this behavior. Recent advancements in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) have enabled the quantification of adsorbed water in unsaturated porous media such as wood and soil (Cocusse et al, 2022;Eizaguirre et al, 2024). These advancements in dynamic NMR relaxometry, combined with dynamic X-ray (or neutron) tomography together with thermal imaging, provide insights into the local heat paths and their development within the soil porous medium.…”

Section: Model Limitations Scope Of Applications and Future Outlookmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pore unit cell network modeling of the thermal conductivity dynamics in unsaturated sandy soils: Unveiling the role of spanning‐wetting phase cluster

Mirghafari,

Helforoosh,

Nikooee

et al. 2024

Vadose Zone Journal

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As the world struggles with climate change and energy crises, understanding the role of soil in the food–water–energy nexus becomes increasingly critical. Accurately estimating the soil thermal conductivity drying curve is essential for assessing the impacts of temperature on soil biota and crop growth, environmental changes due to forest fires and global warming, and for designing geo‐energy extraction techniques such as geothermal energy piles. Existing empirical models often fail to accurately estimate the soil thermal conductivity (TC), particularly in pendular soil moisture regimes where they do not capture sharp changes in TC. This study introduces a novel approach using a pore unit cell network model to more accurately describe the dynamics of TC in variably saturated soils. A quadratic parallel scheme within each soil pore unit cell links the TCs of solid, water, and air to the overall effective conductivity. By modeling air invasion in the pore network model and employing the proposed equation, we determined the unsaturated soil TC based on varying local conductivities. The model effectively captures the significant decrease in conductivity in the pendular saturation regime, associated with the shrinkage of the spanning‐wetting cluster. Quantitative analyses showed a substantial improvement in prediction accuracy compared to existing models, especially under varying moisture conditions. Our findings have significant implications for better characterizing soil thermal and hydraulic properties, which are crucial for resource management in a changing climate and advancing geo‐energy technologies.

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Section: Model Limitations Scope Of Applications and Future Outlookmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pore unit cell network modeling of the thermal conductivity dynamics in unsaturated sandy soils: Unveiling the role of spanning‐wetting phase cluster

Mirghafari,

Helforoosh,

Nikooee

et al. 2024

Vadose Zone Journal

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Exploring two regimes of water mobility in unsaturated expansive clay using NMR relaxometry

Cited by 1 publication

References 47 publications

Pore unit cell network modeling of the thermal conductivity dynamics in unsaturated sandy soils: Unveiling the role of spanning‐wetting phase cluster

Pore unit cell network modeling of the thermal conductivity dynamics in unsaturated sandy soils: Unveiling the role of spanning‐wetting phase cluster

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