Applicability of Colloid Filtration Theory in Size-Distributed, Reduced Porosity, Granular Media in the Absence of Energy Barriers

The vast majority of colloid transport experiments use granular porous media with narrow size distribution to facilitate comparison with colloid filtration theory, which represents porous media with a single collector size. In this work we examine retention of colloids ranging in size from 0.21 to 9.1 mu m in diameter, in columns packed with uniform and size-distributed borosilicate glass bead porous media with porosity ranging from 0.38 to 0.28. Conditions were favorable to attachment (absent a significant energy barrier). The goal was to determine the applicability of colloid filtration theory to colloid retention in these media. We also directly observed deposition at the pore scale in packed flow cells. The pore domain was characterized via high resolution computerized X-ray micro tomography (HRXMT). The flow field was examined using Lattice-Boltzmann flow simulation methods (LBM). The influence of preferential flow paths on colloid retention in the lowest porosity media was accounted for by correcting the fluid velocity. Straining in pore throats too small to pass was not a significant contributor to colloid retention despite colloid-to-collector size ratios up to 0.05. Mechanistic simulations via the Ma-Pedel-Fife-Johnson correlation equation (MPFJ) for colloid filtration predicted the experimentally observed trends in deposition with porosity when a number-based mean grain size was used.