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Three-dimensional temporal imaging of X-ray CT imaging of dissolution-driven convection in glass beads

Publisher
British Geological Survey (BGS)
Updated
28 August 2026
Topic
Not set
Licence
Not set

Summary

The images in this dataset show the mixing of two liquid solutions in a random bead pack as a function of time and in three-dimensions. The working fluids used in this study are solutions of methanol and ethylene-glycol (MEG, fluid 1) and brine (fluid 2). In particular, three mixtures of ethylene-glycol and methanol were prepared that differ in wt% ethylene-glycol, namely 55 wt% (MEG55), 57 wt% (MEG57) and 59 wt% (MEG59). Measurements are conducted using in the regime of Rayleigh numbers, Ra = 2000-5000. X-ray Computed Tomography is applied to image the spatial and temporal evolution of the solute plume non -invasively. The tomograms are used to compute macroscopic quantities including the rate of dissolution and horizontally averaged concentration profiles, and enable the visualisation of the ow patterns that arise upon mixing at a spatial resolution of about (2x2x2) mm3. We observe that the mixing process evolves systematically through three stages, starting from pure diffusion, followed by convection-dominated and shutdown. A modified diffusion equation is applied to model the convective process with an onset time of convection that compares favourably with literature data and an effective diffusion coefficient that is almost two orders of magnitude larger than the molecular diffusivity of the solute. The comparison of the experimental observations of convective mixing against their numerical counterparts of the purely diffusive scenario enables the estimation of a non-dimensional convective mass flux in terms of the Sherwood number, Sh = 0.025Ra. We observe that the latter scales linearly with Ra, in agreement with observations from both experimental and numerical studies on thermal convection over the same Ra regime.

Data links

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Citation Information - Digital Object Identifier (DOI) 28/8/2026
Resource locator 28/8/2026

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Additional information

Source Metadata
XML, HTML
Date added
28 August 2026
Harvest GUID
762484f0-e6f0-5eed-e054-002128a47908
Dataset reference date (creation)
2016-07-18
Frequency of update
notApplicable
Access constraints
The copyright of materials derived from the British Geological Survey's work is vested in the Natural Environment Research Council [NERC]. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of the copyright holder, via the BGS Intellectual Property Rights Manager. Use by customers of information provided by the BGS, is at the customer's own risk. In view of the disparate sources of information at BGS's disposal, including such material donated to BGS, that BGS accepts in good faith as being accurate, the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) gives no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the quality or accuracy of the information supplied, or to the information's suitability for any use. NERC/BGS accepts no liability whatever in respect of loss, damage, injury or other occurence however caused.
Responsible party
Qatar Carbonates and Carbon Storage Research Centre (author, pointOfContact); Imperial College London (pointOfContact, principalInvestigator)
ISO 19139 resource type
nonGeographicDataset
Metadata language
eng

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