Excess Colloid Retention in Porous Media as a Function of Colloid Size, Fluid Velocity, and Grain Angularity

Abstract

The deposition and re-entrainment behaviors of five sizes of carboxylate-modified microspheres (ranging from 0.1 to 2.0 microm) were examined both in porous media and impinging jet systems under a variety of environmentally relevant pore fluid velocities (2-8 m day-'), and in both the absence and the presence of an energy barrier to deposition. The magnitudes of the deposition efficiencies were compared among the porous media and impinging jet systems under equivalent fluid velocities, solution chemistries, and surface chemistries. The observed deposition efficiencies were factors of about 5 to 50 greater in the porous media relative to the impinging jet across the entire size range of microspheres examined, demonstrating that this excess deposition in porous media is relevant to a wide range of colloid sizes. The magnitude of excess deposition increased with increasing fluid velocity, and was greatest for the smallest colloids (0.1 microm). A range between 15% and 40% of the excess retained colloids were released upon introduction of low ionic strength solution, indicating that they were retained via secondary energy minima without direct contact with the grain surfaces. The observations indicate that pore geometry is a critical governor of colloid deposition in the presence of an energy barrier, even in porous media composed of spherical collectors. A portion of this excess deposition results from retention in flow stagnation zones.