How Heterogeneous Pore Scale Distributions of Wettability Affect Infiltration into Porous Media
Wettability is an important parameter that significantly determines hydrology in porous media, and it especially controls the flow of water across the rhizosphere—the soil-plant interface. However, the influence of spatially heterogeneous distributions on the soil particles surfaces is scarcely know...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-03-01
|
| Series: | Water |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/14/7/1110 |
| _version_ | 1797437456062087168 |
|---|---|
| author | Jonas Bentz Ravi A. Patel Pascal Benard Alice Lieu Adrian Haupenthal Eva Kroener |
| author_facet | Jonas Bentz Ravi A. Patel Pascal Benard Alice Lieu Adrian Haupenthal Eva Kroener |
| author_sort | Jonas Bentz |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Wettability is an important parameter that significantly determines hydrology in porous media, and it especially controls the flow of water across the rhizosphere—the soil-plant interface. However, the influence of spatially heterogeneous distributions on the soil particles surfaces is scarcely known. Therefore, this study investigates the influence of spatially heterogeneous wettability distributions on infiltration into porous media. For this purpose, we utilize a two-phase flow model based on Lattice-Boltzmann to numerically simulate the infiltration in porous media with a simplified geometry and for various selected heterogeneous wettability coatings. Additionally, we simulated the rewetting of the dry rhizosphere of a sandy soil where dry hydrophobic mucilage depositions on the particle surface are represented via a locally increased contact angle. In particular, we can show that hydraulic dynamics and water repellency are determined by the specific location of wettability patterns within the pore space. When present at certain locations, tiny hydrophobic depositions can cause water repellency in an otherwise well-wettable soil. In this case, averaged, effective contact angle parameterizations such as the Cassie equation are unsuitable. At critical conditions, when the rhizosphere limits root water uptake, consideration of the specific microscale locations of exudate depositions may improve models of root water uptake. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:20:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c438bcd4f49143588b0451ddf84bbd80 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T11:20:35Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-c438bcd4f49143588b0451ddf84bbd802023-12-01T00:20:16ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412022-03-01147111010.3390/w14071110How Heterogeneous Pore Scale Distributions of Wettability Affect Infiltration into Porous MediaJonas Bentz0Ravi A. Patel1Pascal Benard2Alice Lieu3Adrian Haupenthal4Eva Kroener5iES Landau, Institute for Environmental Sciences, Geophysics, University of Koblenz-Landau, Fortstraße 7, 76829 Landau, GermanyInstitute of Building Materials and Concrete Structures (IMB), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), 76131 Karlsruhe, GermanyPhysics of Soils and Terrestrial Ecosystems, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zürich, Universitätstraße 16, 8092 Zürich, SwitzerlandModelling and Numerics, Department of Mathematics, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Cauerstraße 11, 91058 Erlangen, GermanyInstitute for Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-3 Agrosphere, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, GermanyInstitute for Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-3 Agrosphere, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Wilhelm-Johnen-Straße, 52428 Jülich, GermanyWettability is an important parameter that significantly determines hydrology in porous media, and it especially controls the flow of water across the rhizosphere—the soil-plant interface. However, the influence of spatially heterogeneous distributions on the soil particles surfaces is scarcely known. Therefore, this study investigates the influence of spatially heterogeneous wettability distributions on infiltration into porous media. For this purpose, we utilize a two-phase flow model based on Lattice-Boltzmann to numerically simulate the infiltration in porous media with a simplified geometry and for various selected heterogeneous wettability coatings. Additionally, we simulated the rewetting of the dry rhizosphere of a sandy soil where dry hydrophobic mucilage depositions on the particle surface are represented via a locally increased contact angle. In particular, we can show that hydraulic dynamics and water repellency are determined by the specific location of wettability patterns within the pore space. When present at certain locations, tiny hydrophobic depositions can cause water repellency in an otherwise well-wettable soil. In this case, averaged, effective contact angle parameterizations such as the Cassie equation are unsuitable. At critical conditions, when the rhizosphere limits root water uptake, consideration of the specific microscale locations of exudate depositions may improve models of root water uptake.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/14/7/1110porous mediarhizosphereheterogeneous wettabilityeffective contact anglelattice boltzmann modeling |
| spellingShingle | Jonas Bentz Ravi A. Patel Pascal Benard Alice Lieu Adrian Haupenthal Eva Kroener How Heterogeneous Pore Scale Distributions of Wettability Affect Infiltration into Porous Media Water porous media rhizosphere heterogeneous wettability effective contact angle lattice boltzmann modeling |
| title | How Heterogeneous Pore Scale Distributions of Wettability Affect Infiltration into Porous Media |
| title_full | How Heterogeneous Pore Scale Distributions of Wettability Affect Infiltration into Porous Media |
| title_fullStr | How Heterogeneous Pore Scale Distributions of Wettability Affect Infiltration into Porous Media |
| title_full_unstemmed | How Heterogeneous Pore Scale Distributions of Wettability Affect Infiltration into Porous Media |
| title_short | How Heterogeneous Pore Scale Distributions of Wettability Affect Infiltration into Porous Media |
| title_sort | how heterogeneous pore scale distributions of wettability affect infiltration into porous media |
| topic | porous media rhizosphere heterogeneous wettability effective contact angle lattice boltzmann modeling |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/14/7/1110 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jonasbentz howheterogeneousporescaledistributionsofwettabilityaffectinfiltrationintoporousmedia AT raviapatel howheterogeneousporescaledistributionsofwettabilityaffectinfiltrationintoporousmedia AT pascalbenard howheterogeneousporescaledistributionsofwettabilityaffectinfiltrationintoporousmedia AT alicelieu howheterogeneousporescaledistributionsofwettabilityaffectinfiltrationintoporousmedia AT adrianhaupenthal howheterogeneousporescaledistributionsofwettabilityaffectinfiltrationintoporousmedia AT evakroener howheterogeneousporescaledistributionsofwettabilityaffectinfiltrationintoporousmedia |