Quasistatic analysis on configuration of two-phase flow in Y-shaped tubes
Type
ArticleKAUST Department
Computational Transport Phenomena LabComputer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering (CEMSE) Division
Earth Science and Engineering Program
Environmental Science and Engineering Program
Physical Science and Engineering (PSE) Division
KAUST Grant Number
SA-00040/UK-00016Date
2014-12Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/563901
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
We investigate the two-phase flow in a horizontally placed Y-shaped tube with different Young's angle and width in each branch. By using a quasistatic approach, we can determine the specific contact position and the equilibrium contact angle of fluid in each branch based on the minimization problem of the free energy of the system. The wettability condition and the width of the two branches play important roles in the distribution of fluid in each branch. We also consider the effect of gravity. Some fluid in the upper branch will be pulled down due to the competition of the surface energy and the gravitational energy. The result provides some insights on the theory of two-phase flow in porous media. In particular, it highlights that the inhomogeneous wettability distribution affects the direction of the fluid penetrating a given porous medium domain. It also sheds light on the current debate whether relative permeability may be considered as a full tensor rather than a scalar.Citation
Zhong, H., Wang, X.-P., Salama, A., & Sun, S. (2014). Quasistatic analysis on configuration of two-phase flow in Y-shaped tubes. Computers & Mathematics with Applications, 68(12), 1905–1914. doi:10.1016/j.camwa.2014.10.004Sponsors
This publication was based on work supported in part by Award No. SA-00040/UK-00016, made by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), the Hong Kong RGC-GRF Grants 605311, 605513.Publisher
Elsevier BVae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.camwa.2014.10.004