Study on hydrodynamic diffusion law of the swelling particle slurry in karst pipeline

The swelling particle grouting material has demonstrated remarkable plugging effectiveness in high-pressure and large-flow burst water within karst pipelines.Currently,current research on the rheolog-ical model,flow computation theory,and plugging mechanism of this material is lacking.The conven-tional grouting slurry diffusion process,using the liquid-liquid two-phase flow method,fails to accurately simulate high solubility slurry and particle swelling.To address these limitations,this study established a precise constitutive model to describe the swelling particle slurry diffusion process in dynamic water.Additionally,a coupling calculation method was proposed to analyze the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of viscosity during slurry diffusion by considering the migration of slurry and the changes in viscosity.To investigate the interaction between particle swelling and flow field changes,a Compu-tational Fluid Dynamics-Discrete Element Method(CFD-DEM)coupling model was developed for the diffusion of swelling particle slurry.It is demonstrated that slurry viscosity increases exponentially within the diffusion front as the particle swelling rate rises,and the drag force exhibits an intriguing behavior of initially increasing and then decreasing as the slurry flows through the pipeline.Further-more,the CFD-DEM coupling model proved to be more accurate in describing viscosity distribution and diffusion distance compared to the finite element solution.The primary objective of this paper is to reveal the plugging mechanism and provide theoretical support for the engineering application of the swelling particle grouting material.

Swelling and diffusion model of a hydrophilic film coating on controlled-release urea particles

Controlled-release urea was fabricated by coating urea particles with a polymer latex in a fluidized bed. The latex film coated on the urea particle surface was hydrophilic and swelled in water. The film swelling in water and urea solution and properties of the swollen film were studied. The film swelling in urea solution followed the Lagergren＇s pseudo-first order kinetics with the swelling coefficient depending on the film material and experimental conditions. The effects of swelling on film structure and permeability were studied. The film permeability coefficient decreased with increasing swelling ratio with an approx- imately linear relationship. Based on the film formation process and structure of the swollen film. a film structure model consisting of dense and swollen phases was proposed. The permeability coefficient of the spherical film and cumulative release of urea from the coated particles were calculated from the swelling ratio of the spherical film. which was determined from the expansion curve of the coated particle during the release process, The calculated and measured release curves agreed well, This research indicates that the swelling of the hydrophilic film and the controlled-release mechanism are important factors in the development of controlled-release urea.