An insight into the effect of gas on pore clogging using a resolved CFD-DEM coupling model

Abstract

Pore clogging phenomena are commonly encountered in porous media and have been extensively investigated. However, with the increasing prominence of fields like hydrate extraction and carbon dioxide (CO₂) sequestration, which involve gas–liquid two-phase flow, the effect of gas on pore clogging remains largely unexplored. This study employed a coupled resolved computational fluid dynamics and discrete element method (CFD-DEM) in conjunction with the volume of fluid (VOF) method to simulate gas–liquid two-phase flow. In addition, scanned real particles and a truncated-cone pore are employed to simulate pore clogging process under fluid flow. The results indicate that the presence of gas intensifies the turbulence within the fluid field. Additionally, the interaction among gas, fluid, and particles increases the variability of the drag forces acting on the particles. These two factors lead to a decrease in particle pile stability and reduce the possibility of pore clogging. Moreover, the parameters study shows that with the increase of gas fraction, the fluctuation of particle drag force increases and the velocity of particles passing through pore increases. With the increase of constriction diameter, the velocity of particles passing through pore is accelerated, and the influence of gas is reduced.