Descrizione del progetto
Modellizzazione di colloidi per la comprensione dei flussi geologici
I colloidi, miscele in cui una sostanza è dispersa in minuscole particelle nell’altra, si trovano in tutto il mondo naturale. Comprendono gel, sol ed emulsioni; anche virus e batteri possono essere considerati colloidi. Il progetto COCONUT, finanziato dall’UE, mira a sviluppare nuovi strumenti di previsione che spieghino come i colloidi riescano a controllare flussi bifase immiscibili in formazioni geologiche complesse. I colloidi di nanoparticelle hanno il potenziale per rimettere in movimento le particelle intrappolate sotto la superficie, come nelle acque sotterranee contaminate o nei depositi di petrolio. Il progetto combinerà modelli idroelettrochimici ed esperimenti di microfluidica incentrati sui meccanismi dei flussi sulla scala dei pori e sull’aumento di questi su una scala continua. L’obiettivo finale è dimostrare come i colloidi riescano a controllare un flusso bifase in sistemi geologici a scala di colonne.
Obiettivo
The COCONUT project aims at developing predictive capabilities to understand how colloids (nanometals, fine particles, bacteria, viruses, asphaltenes..) control immiscible two-phase flow in complex geological formations. Colloids (including nanoparticles) have an incredible potential to remobilize non-aqueous phases trapped by capillary forces in soils and the subsurface, and then to remediate contaminated groundwater or to enhance oil recovery. Their use in daily engineering, however, is still underexploited because the lack of knowledge regarding their transport mechanisms is an obstacle to precise control of two-phase flow. Importantly, the presence of colloidal particles flowing in the subsurface challenges the standard modeling viewpoint of flow and transport based on Darcy's law. We posit that the precise control of colloids on the motion of two-phase flow can only be achieved by developing a deep knowledge of the coupled hydro-electro-chemical processes at the pore-scale. The COCONUT project uses a combined modelling-experimental strategy focusing on the pore-scale mechanisms and on the upscaling to the continuum-scale. The project is multi-disciplinary and uses computational and experimental sciences, fluid dynamics, electrochemistry, and mathematics. The project will require the development of hydro-electro-chemical computational models at different scales of interest (WP1). We will use high-resolution simulations to interrogate emergent physico-chemical processes and characterize the surface attractive and repulsive forces at the nanoscale (WP2). Then, we will decipher the mechanisms leading to the displacement of fluids trapped in an unsaturated porous medium in the presence of colloids using pore-scale modelling and microfluidic experiments (WP3). Finally, we will demonstrate and optimize the two-phase flow colloidal control in geological systems at the column-scale (WP4).
Campo scientifico
- natural scienceschemical scienceselectrochemistry
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologybacteriology
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesmicrobiologyvirology
- natural sciencesphysical sciencescondensed matter physicssoft matter physics
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesclassical mechanicsfluid mechanicsfluid dynamics
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsIstituzione ospitante
75794 Paris
Francia