Ferrofluid magnetoviscous control of wall flow channeling in porous media

Abstract

We analyzed the phenomenon of ferrofluid magnetoviscosity in high-permeability wall-region non-magnetic porous media of the Müller kind. After upscaling the pore-level ferrohydrodynamic model, we obtained a simplified volume-average zero-order axisymmetric model for non-Darcy non-turbulent flow of steady-state isothermal incompressible Newtonian ferrofluids through a porous medium experiencing external constant bulk-flow oriented gradient magnetic field, ferrofluid self-consistent demagnetizing field and induced magnetic field in the solid. The model was explored in contexts plagued by wall flow maldistribution due to low column-to-particle diameter ratios. It was shown that for proper magnetic field arrangement, wall channeling can be reduced by inflating wall flow resistance through magnetovisco-thickening and Kelvin body force density which reroute a fraction of wall flow towards bed core.