PMVlab - Visualizing Flow, Deformation and Reaction in Porous Media
We research the physical, chemical and , when all is lost, the biological processes occurring in porous media by visualizing the dynamics.
What is porous media?
Porous media is all around us. It is the cells in our body, the desk we sit next to, and the ground we walk on. It is truly everywhere. Most porous materials, as are soil and rock, allow for flow between the connected pores. It can be a single-phase flow like saturating water or multi-phase flow as brine displacing oil and gas. However, it is mainly the porous structure that controls the flow morphology and dynamics.
What is flow in porous media?
Many fluids flow and interact with porous material. Some we extract from soil and rock formations like our drinking water, or our gas and oil. Some we insert to brine aquifers within rock formations as liquidize CO2 or wastewater. As these fluids flow, they displace the resident fluid and interact with it chemically and physically, and sometimes, they can even deform and fracture the domain. These are the things we study!