The effect of temperature on the seepage transport of suspended particles in a porous medium

Abstract The main purpose of this study is to experimentally investigate the effect of temperature on the seepage transport of suspended particles (SP) with a median diameter of 10–47 μm in a porous medium for various seepage velocities. The results show that the rise of temperature accelerates the irregular movements of SPs in the porous medium and reduces their migration velocity. As a result, the pore volume corresponding to the peak value of the breakthrough curves is apparently delayed, and the peak value in the effluent is decreased. The migration velocity of SPs decreases with increasing particle size, regardless of the Darcy velocity and temperature. The longitudinal dispersivity of SPs decreases slightly with increasing temperature and then remains almost unchanged. Larger particles experience more irregular movements induced by the limit of pore size, which leads to a larger dispersivity. The deposition coefficient increases with increasing temperature, especially in the case of a high seepage velocity, and then tends to be stable. The deposition coefficient for large‐sized particles is higher than that for small‐sized particles, which can be attributed to the restriction of large‐sized particles by the narrow pores in the porous medium. The recovery rate decreases slightly with the increase of temperature until a critical value is reached, beyond which it remains almost unchanged. In summary, temperature is a significant factor affecting the transport and deposition of SPs in the porous medium, and the transport parameters such as particle velocity, dispersivity, and deposition coefficient.