Hydrological modeling

At the Analog Modeling in Hydrology Laboratory, we are developing experiments on flow in porous and fractured media and the transport/mixing of, possibly reactive, solutes. The media are analog, transparent media that can be used to measure the concentrations of the solute and the local fluid velocities at the pore scale.
  • Scientific manager: Yves Méheust
  • Technical manager: Francesco Gomez
  • Location: The laboratory is made up of two rooms, one in the basement of building 14B, dedicated to millifluidic experiments, and the other is on the third floor of building 15, dedicated to microfluidics.

Experimental devices


Transport experiment in 2D porous media
Solutes are carried by the flow through these bi-dimensional media with centimetric dimensions (in this case, a medium made up of cylindrical grains). The injected fluid, loaded with solute (in this case, fluorescein), mixes with the resident fluid. We are interested in the properties of this mixing process, and how it impacts reactivity when the two fluids react together or when the injected fluid reacts with the solid phase.


Microscope and incubation chamber
Here, the two-dimensional porous medium is of micrometric size. It is placed in a temperature- and humidity-controlled incubation chamber, and which can be viewed through an inverted microscope. The medium is inoculated with bacteria, and the fluid transports the nutrients. We are studying the coupling between this transport of nutrients and the activity of the bacteria in the cell.


Laser sheet cut of a fluorescein plume in 3D porous media
In the three-dimensional device (3D), we measure the concentration field of a solute transported by a permanent flow through a stack of glass beads. The laser plane is used to illuminate a slice of the fluorescent solute, and to record an image of this 2D section of the concentration field.

Équipement

  • Chemistry flow hood and benches
  • Optical tables
  • CCD and sCMOS cameras
  • Blue and green lasers
  • LED lighting panel
  • Tables with interfaceable movements
  • Material for optical mounts (lenses, filters, feet, mirrors)
  • Pressure sensors
  • Syringe pumps
  • Pressure controllers
  • Interfaceable scales
  • Chemistry flow hood and benches
  • Syringe pumps
  • Pressure controllers
  • Inverted microscope with incubation chamber
  • Binocular magnifier
  • sCMOS cameras

Recent projects

  • Relationship between the mixing of solutes and local reactivity in a heterogeneous flow
  • Dependence of solute mixing on the saturation of an unsaturated medium
  • Monitoring the transport of a saline solution using electrical measurements
  • Chaotic advection in 3D porous media
  • Coupling between heterogeneous flow, nutrient mix and biological activity
  • Flows of oil-water emulsions in 2D porous media
  • INSU/EC2CO project “Dispersion and Mixing in the unsaturated zone (2012-2014)
  • ANR “Subsurface mixing and reaction” (2014-2017)
  • ERC Consolidator "ReactiveFronts" (2016-2020)
  • Marie-Curie project “GeoElectricMixing” (2017)
  • SAD Région Bretagne project “CO2seq3D” (2018-2019)
  • ANR "CO2-3D" (2017-2020)
  • CPER (2014-2020)
  • ITN ENIGMA (2017-2021)

Publications (2014-2017)

  • P. de Anna, J. Jimenez-Martinez, H. Tabuteau, R. Turuban, T. Le Borgne, M. Derrien & Y. Méheust (2014), Mixing and reaction kinetics in porous media: an experimental pore scale quantification, Environ. Sci. Tech. 48, 508-516.
  • J. Jimenez-Martinez , P. de Anna , H. Tabuteau , R. Turuban , T. Le Borgne, & Y. Méheust (2015), Pore-scale mechanisms for the enhancement of mixing in unsaturated porous media and implications for
    chemical reactions, Geophys. Rev. Lett. 42(13), 5316-5324.
  • J. Jiménez-Martínez, T. Le Borgne, H. Tabuteau & Y. Méheust (2017), Analysis of mixing dynamics in unsaturated porous media from photo-bleaching micro-model experiments, Water Resour. Res. 53 (2), 1457-1472.
  • D. Jougnot, J. Jimenez-Martinez, R. Legendre, T. Le Borgne, Y. Méheust, & N. Linde (2018), Impact of small-scale saline tracer heterogeneity on electrical resistivity monitoring in fully and partially saturated porous media: insights from geoelectrical milli-fluidic experiments, Adv. Water Resour., sous presse.
  • R. Turuban, P. de Anna, J. Jimenez-Martinez, H. Tabuteau, Y. Méheust & T. Le Borgne, Dispersion upscaling from a pore scale characterization of Lagrangian velocities, EGU General Assembly, Vienne (Autriche), 7-12 avril 2013: présentation orale.
  • P. de Anna, J. Jimenez-Martinez, H. Tabuteau, R. Turuban, T. Le Borgne, M. Derrien & Y. Méheust, Mixing and reaction kinetics in porous media: an experimental pore scale quantification, AGU Fall Meeting, 9-13 décembre 2013, San Francisco (USA): poster.
  • R. Turuban, P. de Anna, J. Jimenez-Martinez, H. Tabuteau, Y. Méheust & T. Le Borgne, Mixing upscaling from a 2D pore scale characterization of Lagrangian velocities, AGU Fall Meeting, 9-13 décembre 2013, San Francisco (USA): poster.
  • J. Jiménez-Martínez, P. Anna, R. Turuban, H. Tabuteau, T. Le Borgne, Y. Méheust, Pore scale imaging of transport in unsaturated flows, AGU Fall Meeting,9-13 décembre 2013, San Francisco (USA): poster.
  • D. Jougnot, J. Jiménez-Martínez, N. Linde, T. Le Borgne, Y. Méheust, Laboratory-scale electrical resistivity and fluorimetric monitoring of saline tracer tests at partial saturation, RST 2014, 27-31 octobre 2014, Pau (France): poster.
  • Y. Méheust, R. Turuban, J. Jimenez-Martinez, P. de Anna, H. Tabuteau & T. Le Borgne, Experimental investigation of the link between pore scale velocities, transport and reactivity in porous media, AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco (USA), décembre 9-13 décembre 2013: présentation orale.
  • J. Jiménez-Martínez, P. Anna, R. Turuban, H. Tabuteau, T. Le Borgne, Y. Méheust, Impact of saturation on dispersion and mixing in porous media, AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco (USA), décembre 15-19 2014: présentation orale.
  • R. Turuban, P. de Anna, J. Jimenez-Martinez, H. Tabuteau, Y. Méheust & T. Le Borgne, Upscaling of mixing in a 2D porous medium from a characterization of pore scale Lagrangian velocities, AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco (USA), 15-19 décembre 2014: poster.
  • T. Le Borgne, P. de Anna, R. Turuban, J. Jimenez-Martinez, H. Tabuteau, Y. Méheust, T. R. Ginn & M. Dentz, The lamellar structure of reactive mixtures in porous media: Pore scale experimental imaging and upscaling, AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco (USA), 15-19 décembre 2014: présentation orale.
  • A. Ferrari, J. Jimenez-Martinez, T. Le Borgne, Y. Méheust & I. Lunati, Challenges in modeling unstable two-phase flow experiments in porous micromodels, AGU Fall Meeting, décembre 15-19 2014, San Francisco (USA): présentation orale.
  • J. Jimenez-Martinez , P. de Anna , H. Tabuteau , R. Turuban , T. Le Borgne, & Y. Méheust, Impact of saturation on dispersion and mixing in porous media, 7th International Conference on Porous Media (Interpore), 18-21 mai 2015, Padova (Italie): présentation orale.
  • D. Jougnot, J. Jiménez-Martínez, Y. Méheust, T. Le Borgne, & N. Linde, Impact of saline tracer mixing on upscaled electrical resistivity under partially saturated conditions: Insights from a pore-scale fluorimetry study, AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco (USA), 14-18 décembre 2015: présentation orale.
  • J. Jimenez-Martinez, P. de Anna, R. Turuban, H. Tabuteau, T. Le Borgne, Y. Méheust, Confronting Experimental Measurements and Models for (Reactive) Transport and Mixing in Two-Dimensional Porous Media, Computer Methods in Water Resources, Toronto (Canada), 20-24 juin 2016: présentation orale.
  • J. Jimenez-Martinez, P. de Anna, R. Turuban, H. Tabuteau, T. Le Borgne & Y. Méheust, Pore scale mixing and reactive transport under unsaturated conditions, JMC15, août 2016, Bordeaux (France): présentation orale.
  • J. Jimenez-Martinez, T. Le Borgne, Y. Méheust, Mixing and reactions in multiphase flow through porous media, AGU Fall Meeting, 14-18 décembre 2016, San Francisco (USA): présentation orale.
  • A. Hubert, J. Farasin, H. Tabuteau, Y. Méheust, & T. Le Borgne, Dynamics of reactive microbial hotspots in concentration gradients, EGU General Assembly 2017, Vienne (Autriche), 3-28 avril 2017: poster.
  • B. Géraud, R. Turuban, J. Heyman, A. Bandopadhyay, U. Ghosh, T. Le Borgne & Y. Méheust, Experimental characterization of mixing dynamics in porous micromodels, Interpores 2017, Rotterdam (Pays-Bas), 8-11 mai 2017: poster.
  • J. Heyman, B. Géraud, Y. Méheust, & T. Le Borgne, Experimental characterization of fluid stretching in porous micromodels, Interpores 2017, Rotterdam (Pays-Bas), 8-11 mai 2017: présentation orale.
  • D. Jougnot, J. Jimenez-Martinez, R. Legendre, T. Le Borgne, Y. Méheust, & N. Linde, Evolution of the electrical resistivity anisotropy during saline tracer tests: insights from geoelectrical milli-fluidic experiments, AGU Fall Meeting, 11-15 décembre 2017, La Nouvelle-Orléans (USA): poster.
  • A. Hubert, J. Farasin, H. Tabuteau, A. Dufresne, Y. Méheust & T. Le Borgne, Dynamics of Reactive Microbial Hotspots in Concentration Gradient, AGU Fall Meeting, 11-15 décembre 2017, La Nouvelle-Orléans (USA): poster.
  • J. Heyman, R. Turuban, J. Joaquin-Jimenez, D. R. Lester, Y. Méheust, & T. Le Borgne, Experimental evidence of chaotic mixing at pore scale in 3D porous media, AGU Fall Meeting, 11-15 décembre 2017, La Nouvelle-Orléans (USA): présentation orale.

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