Numerical study of particle retention in water-saturated porous media and the effect of particle concentration

The transport and retention of particles in slurry passing through porous media causes particle clogging, which is affected primarily by the ratio of the particle diameter to pore-throat size of the porous media. A previous study reported that the particle retention is affected by both the Stokes number and particle concentration. Therefore, this study investigates the effect of the diameter and concentration of particles on particle clogging in porous media. Furthermore, the effect of fluid velocity on particle clogging and permeability of the porous media is also investigated to study particle transport and retention in homogeneous porous media. Fluid-particle two-phase flow in porous media is numerically simulated using the computational fluid dynamics-discrete element method. Particle clogging can be directly precited via the interaction between the particles and surface of the porous media by tracing the exact location of each particle. The simulation reveals that an increase of the particle concentration increases the possibility of the particles being retained in the porous media. Additionally, particles are accumulated at the entrance region of the porous media when the particle concentration is high in the dense region.