A general-purpose tool for modeling multifunctional thin porous media (POREnet): From pore network to effective property tensors

Abstract

POREnet, a novel approach to model effective properties of thin porous media, TPM, is presented. The methodology allows the extraction of local effective property tensors by volume averaging from discrete pore networks, PNs, built on the tessellated continuum space of a TPM. The gradient theorem is used to describe 3D transport in bulk tessellated space, providing an appropriate metric to normalize network fluxes. Implemented effective transport properties include diffusivity, permeability, solid-phase conductivity, and entry capillary pressure and contact angle under two-phase conditions, considering multi-component materials with several solid phases and local contact resistances. Calculated property tensors can be saved on 3D image stacks, where interfacial and sub-CV scale features can be added before exporting data to CFD meshes for simulation. Overall, POREnet provides a general-purpose, versatile methodology for modeling TPM in an ample range of conditions within a single CFD framework. Among other advantages, coupling of PN and continuum models at TPM-channel interfaces is simplified, interfacial contact resistances can be included using robin boundary conditions, and transient multiphysics simulations can be implemented more easily using CFD. The code is tested against a miscellaneousness of examples extracted from electrochemical applications.