Simulation of coupled transfer and transport phenomena in multi-phase materials with application to polymer gels

Abstract

The use of polymers in fluid-saturated porous media has increased in relevance during the last years. Polymers, which exist in the pore space of a solid skeleton, are able to interact with the pore fluid as well as with the solid. The interactions cause changes in the macroscopic behavior, while especially transport and transfer processes within the pore space are affected. The precise knowledge of these processes over time is a key factor for developing innovative applications in petroleum engineering but also for innovative building materials. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to develop a multi-phase model for simulating the coupled processes in such kind of material. With such model, the physical behavior of water-soluble polymers in petroleum engineering and the swelling behavior of hydrogels in polymer-enhanced building materials can be predicted over time. The coupled processes are simulated by solving the system's governing equations in a finite element framework and are validated through experimental results.