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Geosphere Mass Transport Lab
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The lab uncovers how water and fine particles move underground through experiments and numerical analysis.
AboutAbout the lab
Uncovering how water and particles move underground through fluid dynamics
The Geosphere Mass Transfer Lab studies fluid dynamics and mass transfer related to resources and the environment.
It investigates how underground water, and the fine particles and dissolved substances moving within it, travel through gaps in rock and through layers of particles.
In addition to experiments, numerical analysis, and theoretical analysis, the lab also develops new measurement systems.
Some of its themes connect to resource and environmental issues, such as geological disposal of radioactive waste and ore separation without water.
Key terms
- Porous medium
- An object with many tiny gaps inside, such as a layer of sand or gravel, or rock
- Geological disposal
- A method of burying and confining radioactive waste and similar materials deep underground in a stable geological formation
- Bentonite
- A type of clay that swells when it absorbs water and becomes difficult for water to pass through
NewsLab news
Paper by Prof. Elakneswaran and colleagues published in Energy & Fuels
Paper by Prof. Elakneswaran and colleagues published in Journal of Sustainable Cement-Based Materials
Prof. Elakneswaran wins the "Best Scientific Paper" award (16th International Conference…)
Master's student wins the Best Presentation Award at the Multiphase Flow Symposium 2024
Master's student wins the Young Researcher Excellent Presentation Award at the Spring Meeting of the Hokkaido Branch of the Mining and Materials Processing Institute of Japan
ResearchResearch themes
As part of fluid dynamics and mass transfer research related to resources and the environment, the lab studies the movement of underground water, fine particles, and dissolved substances. It takes a variety of approaches: experiments, numerical analysis, theoretical analysis, and the development of new measurement systems.
*Illustrative imageParticles That Settle Through Selected Pores
The lab studies how fine particles settle in water-saturated porous media, such as underground aquifers. Under certain conditions, particles settle through only specific pores and also begin to move sideways. The lab investigates this behavior experimentally using an apparatus with a moving laser. This is joint research with another university.
*Illustrative imageWatching Solutes Move Through Fractures
The lab studies how dissolved substances move through complex-shaped gaps, such as fractures in bedrock. Applying absorption spectrophotometry, it makes the movement of copper ions visible in small channels with rough walls, and runs experiments with an apparatus that visualizes and quantifies solute concentration.
*Illustrative imageHow Fast Clay Particles Dissolve
In geological disposal of radioactive waste, bentonite (a type of clay) is being considered as an engineered barrier to prevent groundwater from entering. Using numerical analysis, the lab determined how disc-shaped particles imitating clay particles are arranged, and modeled the dissolution rate of clay particles based on how much of the particle edges are hidden. This model is used as part of the mass transport models for geological disposal in Japan.
*Illustrative imagePorous Media You Can See Through
The lab calculates porous structures by simulating a phenomenon called spinodal decomposition, and has made transparent porous media with a special 3D printer. By matching the refractive index to that of the liquid filling the pores, it makes visible how substances move inside.
MembersFaculty
- ProfessorElakneswaran Elakneswaran
- Associate ProfessorShusaku Harada
VoicesStudent voices
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Clear shallow water floating debris Owalla shoreline” Jevuniverse / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Particles That Settle Through Selected Pores: “Physical Aquifer Model” Asknapp / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Watching Solutes Move Through Fractures: “Hydrodynamic flow focusing in a microfluidic device” Ihor Panas / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- How Fast Clay Particles Dissolve: “Bentonite clay to make slurry” Agne27 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Porous Media You Can See Through: “Mixing in Porous Medium” Mihkel Kree / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Resource Chemistry Lab): “Rio tinto river CarolStoker NASA Ames Research Center” Carol Stoker, NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Coastal and Ocean Engineering Lab): “Plunging breaker (Sand Beach, Mt. Desert Island, Maine, USA) 15” James St. John / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Building Materials Lab): “Crushed Sioux Quartzite (upper Paleoproterozoic, b.y.) in concrete (Chamberlain, South Dakota, USA) 2” James St. John / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Environmental Geology Lab): “AMD Joggins” Michael C. Rygel / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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