Unexpected coupling between flow and adsorption in porous media

Soft Matter. 2015 Aug 14;11(30):6125-33. doi: 10.1039/c5sm01348h. Epub 2015 Jul 3.

Abstract

We study the interplay between transport and adsorption in porous systems under a fluid flow, based on a lattice Boltzmann scheme extended to account for adsorption. We performed simulations on well-controlled geometries with slit and grooved pores, investigating the influence of adsorption and flow on dispersion coefficient and adsorbed density. In particular, we present a counterintuitive effect where fluid flow induces heterogeneity in the adsorbate, displacing the adsorption equilibrium towards downstream adsorption sites in grooves. We also present an improvement of the adsorption-extended lattice Boltzmann scheme by introducing the possibility for saturating Langmuir-like adsorption, while earlier work focused on linear adsorption phenomena. We then highlight the impact of this change in situations of high concentration of adsorbate.