The filtering of a suspension of solid particles

The changes in the conducting properties of a porous medium when a fluid wi th suspended solid particles moves through it are investigated. A model sys tem of equations is presented, a class of exact solutions is obtained for i nitial problem and of the initial-boundary-value problem. A comparison is m ade with experiment using the example of the percolation of a suspension in to a pure uniform sample. It is shown that the model considered describes, qualitatively correctly, the behaviour of the main parameters of the porous medium and the flow of the suspension during colmatage (silt deposition). (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.