Interaction between corner and bulk flows during drainage in granular porous media

Abstract

Drainage of a liquid by a gas in porous media can be broken down into two main mechanisms: a primary piston-like displacement of the interfaces through the bulk of pore bodies and throats, and a secondary slow flow through corners and films in the wake of the invasion front. In granular porous media, this secondary drainage mechanism unfolds in connected pathways of pendular structures, such as capillary bridges and liquid rings, formed between liquid clusters. To represent both mechanisms, we proposed a dynamic dual-network model for drainage, considering that a gas displaces a wetting liquid from quasi-2D granular porous media. For this model, dedicated analyses of the capillary bridge shapes and hydraulic conductivity were conducted so that the secondary drainage mechanism could be properly quantified at finite speeds. With the model, an investigation of the wetting-phase connectivity and flow during drainage was carried out, covering a broad range of flow conditions. Results indicate that the span of liquid-connected structures in the unsaturated region, as well as their ability to contribute to flow, varies significantly with Capillary and Bond numbers.