Methods for colloid transport visualization in pore networks

Abstract

Prediction of colloid transport in the subsurface is relevant to researchers in a variety of fields such as contaminant transport, wastewater treatment, and bioremediation. Investigations have traditionally relied on column studies whereby mechanistic inferences must be drawn on the basis of colloid behavior at the outlet. Over the past decade, development of noninvasive visualization techniques based on visible light, magnetic resonance, and X rays have provided insight into a number of colloid transport mechanisms by enabling direct observation of individual colloids at the pore scale and colloid concentrations at longer length scales. As research focus shifts from transport of ideal colloids in ideal media such as glass beads to natural colloids in natural porous media, these noninvasive techniques will become increasingly useful for studying the collection of mechanisms at work in heterogeneous pore systems. It is useful at this juncture to review recent progress in colloid transport visualization as a starting point for further development of visualization tools to support investigation of colloids in natural systems. We briefly discuss characteristics of visualization systems currently used to study colloid transport in porous media and review representative microscale and mesoscale visualization studies conducted over the past decade, with additional attention given to two optical visualization systems being developed by the authors.