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Updated: Apr 7, 2026

Microfluidic Devices for Characterizing Pore-scale Event Processes in Porous Media for Oil Recovery Applications
Published on: January 16, 2018
Unexpected coupling between flow and adsorption in porous media
Jean-Mathieu Vanson1, François-Xavier Coudert, Benjamin Rotenberg
1École Normale Supérieure, PSL Research University, Département de Chimie, Sorbonne Universités - UPMC Univ Paris 06, CNRS UMR 8640 PASTEUR, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France. anne.boutin@ens.fr.
Abstract:
We study the interplay between transport and adsorption in porous systems under a fluid flow, based on a lattice Boltzmann scheme extended to account for adsorption. We performed simulations on well-controlled geometries with slit and grooved pores, investigating the influence of adsorption and flow on dispersion coefficient and adsorbed density. In particular, we present a counterintuitive effect where fluid flow induces heterogeneity in the adsorbate, displacing the adsorption equilibrium towards downstream adsorption sites in grooves. We also present an improvement of the adsorption-extended lattice Boltzmann scheme by introducing the possibility for saturating Langmuir-like adsorption, while earlier work focused on linear adsorption phenomena. We then highlight the impact of this change in situations of high concentration of adsorbate.
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