Spreading of point‐source liquid spills in a thin rectangular packed bed under simulated marine conditions

Abstract

Abstract Two‐dimensional visualizations of point‐source liquid spills in porous media were performed in a flat rectangular packed bed, emplaced on a robotized hexapod, to emulate roll/pitch marine oscillations. The extent to which the directional modulation of liquid gravity and the moving‐bed inertial forces affect the liquid spills was the study's central aim. Spill morphology deviations were dictated by gravity force oscillations, while Coriolis/Euler/centrifugal forces were confined to secondary roles. Multiple gravity‐driven liquid branching with departures from the longitudinal direction, not only boosted wetting but also symmetrized the developing spills while suppressing the wall‐biased liquid influx, which impaired inclined beds. Wetting exhibited asymmetric sigmoidal deceleratory transients, reminiscent of many physicochemical transformations with skewed activation energy distribution. The parameters describing the dispersive kinetics and allied activation energy distribution of wetting—analogized to a phase change transition—were interpreted in terms of hexapod kinematic parameters.