Abstract
While there is a consensus in the literature that embracing nanodevices and nanomaterials helps in improving the efficiency and performance, the reason for the better performance is mostly subscribed to the nanosized material/structure of the system without sufficiently acknowledging the role of fluid flow mechanisms in these systems. This is evident from the literature review of fluid flow modeling in various energy‐related applications, which reveals that the fundamental understanding of fluid transport at micro‐ and nanoscale is not adequately adapted in models. Incomplete or insufficient physics for the fluid flow can lead to untapped potential of these applications that can be used to increase their performance. This paper reviews the current state of research for the physics of gas and liquid flow at micro‐ and nanoscale and identified critical gaps to improve fluid flow modeling in four different applications related to the energy sector. The review for gas flow focuses on fundamentals of gas flow at rarefied conditions, the velocity slip, and temperature jump conditions. The review for liquid flow provides fundamental flow regimes of liquid flow, and liquid slip models as a function of key modeling parameters. The four porous media applications from energy sector considered in this review are (i) electrokinetic energy conversion devices, (ii) membrane‐based water desalination through reverse osmosis, (iii) shale reservoirs, and (iv) hydrogen storage, respectively. Review of fluid flow modeling literature from these applications reveals that further improvements can be made by (i) modeling slip length as a function of key parameters, (ii) coupling the dependency of wettability and slip, (iii) using a reservoir‐on‐chip approach that can enable capturing the subcontinuum effects contributing to fluid flow in shale reservoirs, and (iv) including Knudsen diffusion and slip in the governing equations of hydrogen gas storage.
Highlights
World’s energy demand is expected to grow approximately by 25–37% between 2014 and 2040 per some estimates [1, 2]
While there is a consensus in the literature that embracing nanodevices and nanomaterials helps in improving the efficiency and performance, the reason for the better performance is mostly subscribed to the nanosized material/ structure of the system without sufficiently acknowledging the role of fluid flow mechanisms in these systems. is is evident from the literature review of fluid flow modeling in various energy-related applications, which reveals that the fundamental understanding of fluid transport at micro- and nanoscale is not adequately adapted in models
Incomplete or insufficient physics for the fluid flow can lead to untapped potential of these applications that can be used to increase their performance. is paper reviewed the current state of research for the physics of gas and liquid flow at micro- and nanoscale and identified critical gaps to improve fluid flow modeling in four different applications related to the energy sector. e review for gas flow focused on fundamentals of gas flow at rarefied conditions, the velocity slip, and temperature jump conditions. e review for liquid flow provided fundamental flow regimes of liquid flow, and liquid slip models as a function of various parameters at micro- and nanoscale
Summary
World’s energy demand is expected to grow approximately by 25–37% between 2014 and 2040 per some estimates [1, 2]. Some major technologies that are either already contributing to this objective or can potentially contribute in the future include (i) electrokinetic energy conversion devices that power wide variety of applications, (ii) water desalination using synthetically created nanosized membranes, (iii) extraction of hydrocarbons from ultra-tight shale formations, and (iv) storage of hydrogen. Optimum utilization of these technologies requires understanding of fluid transport at micro- to nanosized pores and developing theoretical models that capture the physics of fluid flow at these scales to predict their performance. One of the challenges in modeling these systems is that the assumption of continuum scale does not apply because the characteristic length scale of the medium approaches the mean free path (MFP) of the molecules
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
