Exact moment analysis of transient dispersion properties in periodic media

Abstract

This paper develops a homogenization approach, based on the introduction of exact local and integral moments, to investigate the temporal evolution of effective dispersion properties of point-sized and finite-sized particles in periodic media. The proposed method represents a robust and computationally efficient continuous approach, alternative to stochastic dynamic simulations. As a case study, the exact moment method is applied to analyze transient dispersion properties of point-sized and finite-sized particles in sinusoidal tubes under the action of a pressure-driven Stokes flow. The sinusoidal structure of the tube wall induces a significant variation of the axial velocity component along the axial coordinate. This strongly influences the transient behavior of the effective axial velocity V z(t) and of the dispersivity Dz(t), both exhibiting wide and persistent temporal oscillations, even for a steady (not-pulsating) Stokes flow. For a pointwise injection of solute particles on the symmetry axis, many interesting features appear: negative values of the dispersion coefficient Dz(t), values of Dz(t) larger than the asymptotic value Dz(∞), and anomalous temporal scaling of the axial variance of the particle distribution. All these peculiar features found a physical and theoretical explanation by adopting simple transport models accounting for the axial and radial variation of the axial velocity field and its interaction with molecular diffusion.