Stability of polymerizing liquid flow in porous media

This paper examines the flow stability of a polymerizing liquid in an aniso tropic porous medium. The polymerization reaction leads to an increasing vi scosity along the flow direction, particularly behind the advancing resin/a ir front, and may cause the miscible displacement process to become unstabl e and uneven. A linearized stability analysis of the flow within the filled region behind the liquid /air interface has been conducted. This reveals t hat under a moderate adverse viscosity gradient, the polymerization reactio n has the potential for stabilizing the flow process by damping out disturb ances of wavelengths above a critical size. Guidelines are provided for adj usting the composition of the reacting liquid and the anisotropic medium pe rmeability to stabilize the flow process.