The lattice Boltzmann method can be used to simulate flow through porous media with full geometrical resolution. With such a direct numerical simulation, it becomes possible to study fundamental effects which are difficult to assess either by developing macroscopic mathematical models or experiments.
In order to achieve accurate and relevant results, it is important not only to implement very efficient code but also to choose the most appropriate simulation setup. Moreover, it is essential to accurately evaluate the boundary conditions and collision models that are effective from the Stokes regime to the inertial and turbulent flow regimes. In this study, we compare various no-slip boundary schemes and collision operators to assess their efficiency and accuracy. Instead of assuming a constant volume force driving the flow, a periodic pressure drop boundary condition is employed to mimic the pressure-driven flow.
We first consider the convergence rates of various boundary conditions with different collision operators in the Stokes flow regime. Additionally, we choose different boundary conditions that are representatives of first- to third-order schemes at curved boundaries
in order to evaluate their convergence rates numerically for both inertial and turbulent flow. We find that the multi-reflection boundary condition is second order convergence for inertial flow while it converges with third order in the Stokes regime. Taking into account the both computational cost and accuracy requirements, we choose the central linear interpolation bounce-back scheme in combination with the two-relaxation-time collision model. This combination is characterized by providing viscosity independent results and second-order spatial convergence. This method is applied to perform simulations of touching spheres arranged in a simple cubic array. Full- and reduced-stencil lattice models, i.e., the D3Q27 and D3Q19, respectively, are compared and the drag force and friction factor results are presented for Reynolds numbers in the range of 0.001 to 2,477. The drag forces computed using these two different lattice models have a relative difference below 3% for the highest Reynolds number considered in this study.
Taking into account computational cost and accuracy, we choose the most efficient combination of the solid boundary condition and collision operator. We apply this method to perform simulations for a wide range of Reynolds numbers from Stokes flow over seven orders of magnitude to turbulent flow. We investigate the flow behavior for a simple sphere pack and quantify the flow structure at different flow regimes. Moreover, unknown parameters of the Forchheimer, the Barree--Conway and friction factor models are evaluated numerically for the considered flow regimes.
By simulating particle interactions, we construct packed beds of particles with several shapes. We study flow through dense and dilute spherical packings and compare our results to the existing correlations. Furthermore, based on the developed framework, fluid flow through the packing of non-spherical particles are studied. Particle shape and arrangement are shown to influence the pressure drop. Obtained results are compared to the recent correlations for non-spherical particles.
In the last part of this work, we investigate the interaction of free and porous media flow by large scale lattice Boltzmann simulations. We study the transport phenomena at the porous interface on multiple scales, i.e., we consider both computationally generated pore-scale geometries and homogenized models at a macroscopic scale. The pore-scale results are compared to those obtained by using different transmission models. Two-domain approaches with sharp interface conditions, e.g., of Beavers--Joseph--Saffman type, as well as a single-domain approach with a porosity depending viscosity, are taken into account. We show that the two-domain approaches depend sensitively on the choice of the exact position of the interface, whereas our well-designed single-domain approach can lead to a significantly better recovery of the averaged pore-scale results.
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The lattice Boltzmann method can be used to simulate flow through porous media with full geometrical resolution. With such a direct numerical simulation, it becomes possible to study fundamental effects which are difficult to assess either by developing macroscopic mathematical models or experiments.
In order to achieve accurate and relevant results, it is important not only to implement very efficient code but also to choose the most appropriate simulation setup. Moreover, it is essential t...
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