Capillary Action and its Applications Tania Rivas [email protected] Introduction Methods Capillarity ▪ Capillary action present in many natural and ▪ The research strategy implemented mixed ▪ Liquid rises through vertical tube when one end is technological process. maximize on gathering potential information. immersed in liquid. ▪ Fluid movement through porous solids has ▪ Collected data was qualitative. ▪ Liquid in tube rises higher than liquid outside. Fig 1. Fig 2. grown in engineering and applied science ▪ Data from farmers who compared the soil matric ▪ Due to adhesion, cohesion, and surface tension fields. approach and traditional irrigation were ▪ Adhesion: attraction between unlike particles ▪ Applications limited by complex researched through case studies. ▪ Cohesion: attraction between like particles geometries, interface shapes and gravity. ▪ Surface tension: tendency of liquid surface to ▪ Literature reviewed methods were used to shrink accumulate information about oil extraction. ▪ Wetting liquid: concave surface in tube and contact ▪ The biomedical applications were studied angle < 90° Fig 1. through experimental processes and conclusions ▪ Nonwetting liquid: convex surface in tube and contact were drawn from respective reports. angle > 90° Fig 2. Applications Water Transportation in Soil and Oil Extraction from Reservoirs Biomedical Devices Plants ▪ Capillary pressure in reservoirs ▪ Capillary action aids in testing blood for ▪ Capillarity is primary force which forms transition zones. alterations by measuring its viscosity. enables soil to retain and regulate water. ▪ Transition zones are areas were ▪ Blood ran through 3D printed capillary ▪ In plants, the xylem vessel acts as a Fig 3. hydrocarbons are recoverable. circuits: capillary tube. Fig 3. ▪ Height of zones rely on capillary Fig 5. ▪ Simple ▪ Adhesion and cohesion make a two-step pressure and densities of nonwetting ▪ Cost effective process to get water from roots to and wetting fluids. Fig 5. ▪ Disposable leaves. ▪ To extract oil or water from ▪ Biogenic microenvironment templates contain ▪ In agriculture, soil matric potential is reservoirs, displacement forces microchannels acting as capillary tubes. Fig 7. used to measure available water for needed to overcome capillary force. ▪ This allows cells to travel from one end of plants. Fig 4. ▪ Displacement force is equal in template to another. ▪ Irrigation is scheduled based on soil magnitude but opposite in direction ▪ Promotes absorption, retention, and habitation matric potential. to capillary force. of cells. Fig 7. ▪ When water availability drops below Fig 4. ▪ Displacement force supplied by certain threshold, irrigation is initiated. gravity working on the difference of ▪ Best method for areas with densities of liquids. Fig 6. unpredictable climates and delicate ▪ Fig 6. shows CO2 used to provide crops. displacement force Conclusion References ▪ Capillarity governing phenomenon everywhere. [1]Fanchi, John R. "Applications of Rock-Fluid Interactions." Shared Earth Modeling. Elsevier, ▪ Evolving topic in academia and industry. 2002. 133-149. PDF. ▪ Has allowed for advancement in: [2]Google Sites. Plants Transportation: Transpiration Pull and Capillary Action. 2010. Article. 07 ▪ Sensitive crop yields with efficient irrigation systems November 2020. Acknowledgements ▪ Petroleum engineering through precise predictions of [3] Mitropoulos, A. Ch. "Capillarity." Engineering Science and Technology Review (2009): 28- hydrocarbon harvesting areas 32. PDF. Project Advisor: ▪ Accessibility of medical equipment [4] Oh, Sein, et al. "3D-printed Capillary Circuits for Rapid, Low-cost, Portable Analysis of Dr. Birce Dikici, Associate Professor of ▪ All examples show capillary action significantly improves results. Blood Viscosity." Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical. Elsevier, 2018. 106-113. PDF. Mechanical Engineering, ERAU.