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Pore-Scale Study of Rarefied Gas Flows Using Low-Variance Deviational Simulation Monte Carlo Method

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Abstract

Gaseous flow through ultra-tight porous media, e.g. shale and some high-performance insulation materials, is often rarefied, invalidating an analysis by the continuum flow theory. Such rarefied flows can be accurately described by the kinetic theory of gases which utilizes the Boltzmann equation and its simplified kinetic models. While discrete velocity methods have been successful in directly solving these equations, the immense potential of a particle-based solution of the variance-reduced Boltzmann-BGK (Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook) equation for rarefied flows in porous media has not been exploited yet. Here, a parallel solver based on the low variance deviational simulation Monte Carlo method is developed for 3D flows, which enables pore-scale simulations using digital images of porous media samples. The unique advantage of this particle-based formulation is in providing additional insights regarding the multi-scale nature of the flow and surface/gas interactions via two new parameters, i.e. pore and surface activity, respectively. Together, these two parameters can identify key flow properties of the porous media. The computational efficiency and accuracy of the current method has also been analysed, suggesting that this new solver is a powerful simulation tool to quantify flow properties of ultra-tight porous media.

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Acknowledgements

We wish to thank Dr. Minh Tuan Ho of Edinburgh University UK, Dr. Lei Wu of Southern University of Science and Technology, China, and Dr. Thomas Burel of Strathclyde University, UK, for useful discussion and suggestions.

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  1. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G1 1XJ, UK

    Ferdin Don Bosco

  2. School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH9 3FB, UK

    Yonghao Zhang

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  1. Ferdin Don Bosco
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Bosco, F.D., Zhang, Y. Pore-Scale Study of Rarefied Gas Flows Using Low-Variance Deviational Simulation Monte Carlo Method. Transp Porous Med 138, 25–48 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11242-021-01588-0

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