Network models for capillary porous media: application to drying technology

Abstract

Network models offer an efficient pore-scale approach to investigate transport in partially saturated porous materials and are particularly suited to study capillarity. Drying is a prime model application since it involves a range of physical effects: capillary pumping, viscous liquid flow, phase transition, vapor diffusion, heat transfer, but also cracks and shrinkage.This review article gives an introduction to this modern technique addressing required model input, sketching important elements of the computational algorithm and commenting on the nature of simulation results. For the case of drying, it is illustrated how network models can help analyze the influence of pore structure on process kinetics and gain a deeper understanding of the role of individual transport phenomena. Finally, a combination of pore network model and discrete element method is presented, extending the application range to mechanical effects caused by capillary forces.

Influence of Layer Thickness on the Drying of Lithium‐Ion Battery Electrodes—Simulation and Experimental Validation

“…[8] Modeling has evolved far from that point on, with the current pore network modeling being able to describe even complex pore structures of different pore sizes. [9][10][11][12][13][14][15] Although modeling is well advanced, it still requires a lot of computing power and information on the actual film morphology to predict the drying behavior of realistic pore networks.…”

Spatially Resolved Monitoring of Drying of Hierarchical Porous Organic Networks

“…A considerable amount of effort has been channelled into the development of theoretical models that can accurately predict the behaviour of fluids in porous systems during drying. [6][7][8][9][10] More complex and sophisticated models have been developed from increased use of computational resources and the growing interest in the oil industry. 8,11,12 Simulations can be carried out by computing the flow and transport equations either in a simplified topologically modelled network or on topological representation of a network obtained by imaging the pore architecture.…”

“…A considerable amount of effort has been channeled into the development of theoretical models that can accurately predict the behavior of fluids in porous systems during drying. − More complex and sophisticated models have been developed from increased use of computational resources and the growing interest in the oil industry. ,, Simulations can be carried out by computing the flow and transport equations either in a simplified topologically modeled network or on topological representation of a network obtained by imaging the pore architecture . Among the experimental reports, gravimetric studies, photography, and neutron transmission spectroscopy are the most used to study the drying process.…”

Moisture Evaporation from Granular Biopesticides Containing Quiescent Entomopathogenic Nematodes

“…Pore network models are based on a porous structure represented as a network of pores and throats and these models can be used to simulate the drying process at the pore level because they can take into account important features of the microstructure as the role of large pores and their distribution on motion of the gas-liquid menisci in the pores, diffusion, viscous flow, capillarity and liquid flow [40,41,44]. The developing of models that permit to analyse the influence of the porous microstructure has at least two motivations.…”

“…A second one is to analyse drying at the scale of the product without assuming a priori existence of the REV that is associated with the continuum approach. Pore network models have been used in both cases and have been described in two and three dimensions [44].…”