Migration of Air Flow in Non-Fixed Saturated Porous Medium

Two phase flow in porous media is of importance in a number of processes relevant in environmental engineering. The study of gas movement following injection into liquid saturated porous media is an active area of exploration for theoretical and practical reasons, e.g., in air-sparging, oil recovery, and bio-filter. A set of two-dimensional laboratory visualization experiments reveals a previously unrecognized gas-flow instability in a liquid-saturated porous medium packed by its own weight. The medium is made of crushed fused silica glass and saturated with a glycerine-water solution for refractive-index-matching. The interaction of the air flow injected at the bottom and the matrix (porous medium) structure leads to mobilization of the matrix and an instability, which causes the air channel to migrate. The instability of air-channel migration differs significantly from the gas-flow instability in a fixed matrix described in previous research. The migration of the air channel appears as a sequence of former channels collapsing and new channels opening. This process is characterized by the reorganization of the matrix, and the switching between channelized flow and pulsating slug flow. The channel migration comes to a stop after some time, leaving one thin and stable channel. The process is studied by calculating the cumulated lateral movement distance of channel and the lateral width of the area affected by the migration. A dimensionless number is defined to describe the migration. It is observed to be a function of grain size, height of bed, and air flow rate.