Migration, trapping, and venting of gas in a soft granular material

Gas migration through a soft granular material involves a strong coupling between the motion of the gas and the deformation of the material. This process is relevant to a variety of natural phenomena, such as gas venting from sediments and gas exsolution from magma. Here, we study this process exper...

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Main Authors: Lee, S, Lee, J, Le Mestre, R, Xu, F, MacMinn, CW
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2020
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author Lee, S
Lee, J
Le Mestre, R
Xu, F
MacMinn, CW
author_facet Lee, S
Lee, J
Le Mestre, R
Xu, F
MacMinn, CW
author_sort Lee, S
collection OXFORD
description Gas migration through a soft granular material involves a strong coupling between the motion of the gas and the deformation of the material. This process is relevant to a variety of natural phenomena, such as gas venting from sediments and gas exsolution from magma. Here, we study this process experimentally by injecting air into a quasi-2D packing of soft particles and measuring the morphology of the air as it invades and then rises due to buoyancy. We systematically increase the confining prestress in the packing by compressing it with a fluid-permeable piston, leading to a gradual transition in migration regime from fluidization to pathway opening to pore invasion. We find that mixed migration regimes emerge at intermediate confinement due to the spontaneous formation of a compaction layer at the top of the flow cell. By connecting these migration mechanisms with macroscopic invasion, trapping, and venting, we show that mixed regimes enable a sharp increase in the average amount of gas trapped within the packing, as well as much larger venting events. Our results suggest that the relationship between invasion, trapping, and venting could be controlled by modulating the confining stress.
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spelling oxford-uuid:ee960f03-5dd5-44e7-a45d-86d868cbd1752022-03-27T11:33:58ZMigration, trapping, and venting of gas in a soft granular materialJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:ee960f03-5dd5-44e7-a45d-86d868cbd175EnglishSymplectic ElementsAmerican Physical Society2020Lee, SLee, JLe Mestre, RXu, FMacMinn, CWGas migration through a soft granular material involves a strong coupling between the motion of the gas and the deformation of the material. This process is relevant to a variety of natural phenomena, such as gas venting from sediments and gas exsolution from magma. Here, we study this process experimentally by injecting air into a quasi-2D packing of soft particles and measuring the morphology of the air as it invades and then rises due to buoyancy. We systematically increase the confining prestress in the packing by compressing it with a fluid-permeable piston, leading to a gradual transition in migration regime from fluidization to pathway opening to pore invasion. We find that mixed migration regimes emerge at intermediate confinement due to the spontaneous formation of a compaction layer at the top of the flow cell. By connecting these migration mechanisms with macroscopic invasion, trapping, and venting, we show that mixed regimes enable a sharp increase in the average amount of gas trapped within the packing, as well as much larger venting events. Our results suggest that the relationship between invasion, trapping, and venting could be controlled by modulating the confining stress.
spellingShingle Lee, S
Lee, J
Le Mestre, R
Xu, F
MacMinn, CW
Migration, trapping, and venting of gas in a soft granular material
title Migration, trapping, and venting of gas in a soft granular material
title_full Migration, trapping, and venting of gas in a soft granular material
title_fullStr Migration, trapping, and venting of gas in a soft granular material
title_full_unstemmed Migration, trapping, and venting of gas in a soft granular material
title_short Migration, trapping, and venting of gas in a soft granular material
title_sort migration trapping and venting of gas in a soft granular material
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AT leej migrationtrappingandventingofgasinasoftgranularmaterial
AT lemestrer migrationtrappingandventingofgasinasoftgranularmaterial
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AT macminncw migrationtrappingandventingofgasinasoftgranularmaterial