Foam drainage placed on a porous substrate.

Area of Science:

• Fluid dynamics
• Porous media physics
• Foam science

Background:

• Understanding liquid transport in porous media is crucial for various industrial applications.
• Foam behavior at interfaces with substrates presents complex drainage and imbibition dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and analyze a model for foam drainage and liquid imbibition into a porous substrate.
• To investigate the influence of dimensionless parameters on the kinetics of foam-substrate interaction.

Main Methods:

• Coupling of foam drainage and liquid imbibition equations at the interface.
• Numerical solution of dimensionless equations using the finite element method.

Main Results:

• Identified three distinct regimes of foam drainage/imbibition: rapid, intermediate, and slow.
• Kinetics depend on three dimensionless numbers and initial liquid volume fraction.
• Transition points between regimes delineated by two dimensionless numbers.

Conclusions:

• The model provides insights into the complex interplay of foam drainage and substrate imbibition.
• The identified regimes and transition points offer a framework for predicting foam behavior in porous media.