I am currently researching the gas-solid and liquid-solid systems flow within subsurface fractures and porous media in the field of petroleum engineering. This includes topics such as the transport of hydraulic fracturing proppants, as well as the transport and plugging of lost circulation materials. I am primarily interested in the transport, deposition, and plugging of particles. We are considering using the CFD-DEM approach to simulate this problem in order to analyze the microscale mechanisms of particle plugging formation and destruction.
Subsurface fractures and pores serve as flow channels, and the fluids involved can be either gas-solid or liquid-solid two-phase fluids, with the liquid possibly being a non-Newtonian fluid. Fractures in the subsurface have complex and rough surfaces. The length and height of the fracture are significantly greater than its width, which can vary from one to several times the particle diameter. The pore throat diameters in subsurface porous media range from one to ten times the particle diameter. In some cases, the fracture width and the pore diameter can even be smaller than the particle diameter. The particles themselves have a certain size distribution, with the ratio of the maximum to minimum particle size potentially reaching several tens.
I would like to inquire whether MFiX is suitable for studying this problem. If not, can it be customized by MFiX users to address this issue? Do the experts have any suggestions regarding this matter? Thank you.