Emulsion and Soft Colloid Transport in Porous Media and Confined Systems

多孔介质和受限系统中的乳液和软胶体传输

• 批准号: 250033-2012
• 负责人: Bhattacharjee, Subir
• 金额: $ 2.28万
• 依托单位: University of Alberta
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2013-01-01 至 2014-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=524897
• 关键词: Emulsion; Soft; Colloid; Transport; Porous

Emulsion droplets are examples of soft colloids. Oil-water emulsions are commonly found in produced water in oil field applications. These emulsions pose numerous challenges in treatment of produced water, where one attempts to destabilize and separate the oil and water into two phases. Conversely, emulsions and soft colloids are used in several process engineering applications where they need to remain stable even under the influence of shear or other destabilizing forces. Our proposed research focuses on the flow of such emulsions or deformable colloids in highly constricted channels or pores under the influence of electric field and/or pressure. The droplets can deform and break, or coalesce under the influence of shear and electrical forces during such flows. Furthermore, the walls of the constricted channels can impose forces on these emulsion droplets. The short-term objectives of the proposed research are to develop mechanistic understanding of the various electrical, fluid dynamic, and colloidal effects influencing the flow, deformation, and stability of emulsion droplets and deformable colloids. The theoretical modeling studies proposed here will build on our past experience in modeling colloid transport, thin film drainage, and droplet deformation under electrical forcing. These models will employ the governing equations of fluid flow, electric fields, and charged species distribution to determine the mobility of the droplets or soft particles. Subsequently, these models will be incorporated into a macroscopic colloid transport model to predict the macroscopic transport behavior of the emulsion or soft colloidal dispersion through a packed bed of collectors. The various theoretical models will be validated by comparing their results against suitably designed microfluidic and column chromatography experiments. The research outcomes are expected to provide a fundamental mechanistic understanding of the pertinent modes of emulsion transport in porous media, and will help develop more efficient techniques for filtration, de-emulsification, flotation, separation, and ultimately, produced water treatment. Nine graduate students will be trained through this program.

乳液滴是软胶体的例子。油水乳液常见于油田应用中的采出水中。这些乳液在采出水的处理中提出了许多挑战，其中人们试图破坏油和水的稳定性并将其分离成两相。相反，乳液和软胶体用于多种工艺工程应用，即使在剪切力或其他不稳定力的影响下，它们也需要保持稳定。我们提出的研究重点是在电场和/或压力的影响下，此类乳液或可变形胶体在高度收缩的通道或孔隙中的流动。在这种流动过程中，液滴可能会在剪切力和电力的影响下变形、破裂或聚结。此外，狭窄通道的壁可以对这些乳液滴施加力。该研究的短期目标是对影响乳液液滴和可变形胶体的流动、变形和稳定性的各种电学、流体动力学和胶体效应进行机械理解。这里提出的理论建模研究将建立在我们过去在电强迫下模拟胶体传输、薄膜排水和液滴变形的经验基础上。这些模型将采用流体流动、电场和带电物质分布的控制方程来确定液滴或软颗粒的迁移率。随后，这些模型将被纳入宏观胶体传输模型中，以预测乳液或软胶体分散体通过收集器填充床的宏观传输行为。将通过将其结果与适当设计的微流体和柱色谱实验进行比较来验证各种理论模型。研究成果预计将为多孔介质中乳液传输的相关模式提供基本的机械理解，并将有助于开发更有效的过滤、破乳、浮选、分离以及最终的采出水处理技术。 九名研究生将通过该计划接受培训。