Stability of uniform vertical flow through a close porous filter in the presence of solute immobilization

Abstract.

In the present paper we consider slow filtration of a mixture through a close porous filter. The heavy solute penetrates slowly into the porous filter due to the external vertical filtration flow and diffusion. This process is accompanied by the formation of the domain with heavy fluid near the upper boundary of the filter. The developed stratification, at which the heavy fluid is located above the light fluid, is unstable. When the mass of the heavy fluid exceeds the critical value, one can observe the onset of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Due to the above peculiarities we can distinguish between two regimes of vertical filtration: 1) homogeneous seepage and 2) convective filtration. When considering the filtration process it is necessary to take into account the diffusion accompanied by the immobilization effect (or sorption) of the solute. The immobilization is described by the linear MIM (mobile/immobile media) model. It has been shown that the immobilization slows down the process of forming the unstable stratification. The purpose of the paper is to find the stability conditions for homogeneous vertical seepage of he solute into the close porous filter. The linear stability problem is solved using the quasi-static approach. The critical times of instability are estimated. The stability maps are plotted in the space of system parameters. The applicability of quasi-static approach is substantiated by direct numerical simulation of the full nonlinear equations.

Graphical abstract