Chaotic mixing in porous media and its consequences for chemical reaction
In this talk, I will summarize recent advances in our understanding of solute mixing in laminar flows through porous and fractured media, from the pore scale to the Darcy scale and beyond. Transport in porous media is key to a wide range of natural processes (nutrient transport, contaminant migration, and geo-resources) and industrial applications (chromatography, catalysis, and filtration). I will notably emphasize the origin and importance of chaotic advection in shaping solute plumes and controlling their reaction rates.
The presentation will be illustrated by novel experimental imaging techniques that allow us to visualize the three-dimensional chemical landscapes that form within porous structures, together with their local reactivity. Complementary information can be found in Le Borgne & Heyman (2026), Fluid deformation and mixing in porous media as drivers for chemical and biological processes, Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics, 58.
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Short Bio: Joris Heyman is a researcher at CNRS (Rennes, France) working on environmental fluid mechanics and transport processes. His recent work focuses on the physics of transport in laminar flows through porous media, notably through the ERC project “CHORUS: How Does Chaos Control Solute Transport in Porous Media,” where innovative experimental methods for imaging dynamic chemical landscapes are being developed.
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