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Determining the impact of rectangular grain aspect ratio on tortuosity–porosity correlations of two-dimensional stochastically generated porous media

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Abstract

Tortuosity is an important parameter for characterizing transport properties within porous materials and is of interest in a broad range of fields, such as energy storage and conversion materials. One of the parameters that impacts the tortuosity value is the geometry of the solid phase which, in this study, is considered as stochastically-placed rectangular particles. Through lattice Boltzmann modelling (LBM), we determined the impact of particle aspect ratio on the intrinsic tortuosity–porosity relationships of two-dimensional porous media composed of rectangular particles. These relationships were isolated for materials with grain (particle) aspect ratios of ∈ {1, 2, 3} and porosities from [0.55 – 0.95]. We determined that a minimum of 6, 8 and 10 stochastic simulations, respectively, were required to calculate these average tortuosity values in laminar flow (\( Re \ll 1 \)). This novel application of the LBM to study the effects of porosity and aspect ratio of rectangular grains on tortuosity can be used in the tailoring of materials for clean energy.

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Acknowledgments

The Thermal Fluids for Advanced Materials (TEAM) laboratory at the University of Toronto is gratefully acknowledged for their support and assistance. The authors would like acknowledge the financial support from Carbon Management Canada Inc. (CMC), Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the NSERC Canada Research Chairs Program, and the University of Toronto.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Thermofluids for Energy and Advanced Materials (TEAM) Laboratory, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5S 3G8, Canada

    A. Ebrahimi Khabbazi

  2. Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5S 3G8, Canada

    J. Hinebaugh

  3. Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, M5S 3G8, Canada

    A. Bazylak

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  1. A. Ebrahimi Khabbazi
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  2. J. Hinebaugh
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  3. A. Bazylak
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Correspondence to A. Bazylak.

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SPECIAL TOPIC: Materials for Energy Conversion

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Ebrahimi Khabbazi, A., Hinebaugh, J. & Bazylak, A. Determining the impact of rectangular grain aspect ratio on tortuosity–porosity correlations of two-dimensional stochastically generated porous media. Sci. Bull. 61, 601–611 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-016-1020-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-016-1020-3

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