HYDRODYNAMICS OF PARTICULATE MOTION IN SINUSOIDAL PORES VIA A SINGULARITY METHOD

Axisymmetric motions of suspended spheres and dumbbells through sinusoidally corrugated capillaries are considered as an illustrative model of particulate or macromolecular transport in porous media. Numerical simulations are carried out using a least‐squares singularity method, which is well suited to simulating creeping flows in the complicated, time‐evolving geometries associated with particle motion through nonrectilinear pores. The numerical method is applied to a representative closure problem, whose solution yields effective transport coefficients describing particulate flow in porous media. With reference to polymer‐induced mobility control in enhanced oil recovery, a hydrodynamic mechanism of mobility reduction is studied using a rigid dumbbell polymer model. Copyright © 1990 American Institute of Chemical Engineers