Significance of straining in colloid deposition: Evidence and implications

Abstract

Considerable research suggests that colloid deposition in porous media is frequently not consistent with filtration theory predictions under unfavorable attachment conditions. Filtration theory was developed from an analysis of colloid attachment to the solid‐water interface of a single spherical grain collector and therefore does not include the potential influence of pore structure, grain‐grain junctions, and surface roughness on straining deposition. This work highlights recent experimental evidence that indicates that straining can play an important role in colloid deposition under unfavorable attachment conditions and may explain many of the reported limitations of filtration theory. This conclusion is based upon pore size distribution information, size exclusion, time‐ and concentration‐dependent deposition behavior, colloid size distribution information, hyperexponential deposition profiles, the dependence of deposition on colloid and porous medium size, batch release rates, micromodel observations, and deposition at textural interfaces. The implications of straining in unsaturated and heterogeneous systems are also discussed, as well as the potential influence of system solution chemistry and hydrodynamics. The inability of attachment theory predictions to describe experimental colloid transport data under unfavorable conditions is demonstrated. Specific tests to identify the occurrence and/or absence of straining and attachment are proposed.