Colloidal Transport in Locally Periodic Evolving Porous Media -- An Upscaling Exercise

Abstract: We derive an upscaled model describing the aggregation and deposition of colloidal particles within a porous medium allowing for the possibility of local clogging of the pores. At the level of the pore scale, we extend an existing model for colloidal dynamics including the evolution of free interfaces separating colloidal particles deposited on solid boundaries (solid spheres) from the colloidal particles transported through the gaseous parts of the porous medium. As a result of deposition, the solid spheres grow reducing therefore the space available for transport in the gaseous phase. Upscaling procedures are applied and several classes of macroscopic models together with effective transport tensors are obtained, incorporating explicitly the local growth of the solid spheres. The resulting models are solved numerically and various simulations are presented. In particular, they are able to detect clogging regions, and therefore, can provide estimates on the storage capacity of the porous matrix.