Propagation behavior of permeability reduction in heterogeneous porous media due to particulate transport

In this letter we explore the propagation behavior of permeability reduction due to particulate transport in heterogeneous porous media. By simulating an advection-dispersionbased model we find that an attenuating sequence exists in terms of the propagation of particle concentration, permeability reduction and heterogeneity perturbation. The advancing speed of the fronts of the mentioned physical quantities attenuates successively from const to const(1/n)1/t(1-1/n) to const1/t (where n > 1 and t denotes time) regardless of the heterogeneity patterns. Then we move on to discuss the micro-dynamics of the propagation sequence, involving how it originates and how it connects with the macroscopic results. Moreover, exploiting the propagation mechanism enables us to know the condition under which we can apply the hypothesis of media homogeneity to describe the behavior of the particulate transport system in porous media. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2016