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The work is built on a previous research by Wiryana and Berg, in which wicking into four wet-formed paper stripes, consisting of cellulose fibers and four different percentages of the powdered carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) superabsorbent, was studied experimentally. Because of the swelling of cellulose fibers and CMC powder on contact with water, the wicking was accompanied by a swelling of the matrix. A finite element/control volume (FE/CV)-based computer program is used for the first time to model the wicking in such swelling porous medium. The simulation used a novel form of continuity equation, which included the effects of liquid absorption and matrix swelling, in conjunction with the Darcy's law to model the single-phase flow behind a clearly defined liquid-front. A new method of estimating the time-varying permeability of the paper, based on the absorbed liquid-mass vs. time plots, is also proposed. Later, this time-dependent permeability is used in the numerical simulation to change the permeability in elements behind the moving liquid-front as a function of the time that the element has been wetted by the liquid, since the passage of the liquid-front. The numerical prediction of the wicking-front location as a function of time compares well with the reported experimental data. © 2011 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 58: 2536-2544, 2012 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Filter media, including those prepared from cellulosic materials, often suffer from permeability loss during continued use. To help understand such issues, one can take advantage of an extensive body of related research in such fields as industrial filtration, water purification, enhanced oil recovery, chromatography, paper manufacture, and the leaching of pollutants from impoundments. Though the mechanisms that appear to govern permeability-loss phenomena depend a lot on the details of various applications, the published research has revealed a number of common features. In particular, flow through a porous bed or fiber mat can be markedly reduced by deposition of particles or colloidal matter in positions that either block or partially restrict fluid flow. Progress has been achieved in the development of mechanistic models, as well as the use of such models in numerical simulations to explain various experimental findings. Further research of this type needs to be applied to cellulosic materials, which tend to be much more elongated in comparison to the bed materials and suspended matter considered most often by most researchers active in research related to permeability loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dielectric and polarization behaviour of electro-active paper (EAPap) were studied to understand the detailed material behaviour of EAPap as a novel smart material. It was revealed that the dielectric constant of EAPap was temperature and frequency dependent. The largest change in the dielectric constant was observed near 0 degC while the highest dielectric constant was obtained at around 100 degC, which might be related to the dipolar behaviour of the hydroxyl structure of cellulose and adsorbed or existing internal water molecules in cellulose EAPap. By thermal stimulated current measurement for polarization behaviour of cellulose EAPap, it was shown that the maximum current was observed in the temperature range 105-110 degC. Compared with the polarization behaviour in the low temperature range, abnormal polarization was observed under an applied field mainly due to the trapped space charge in EAPap, which indicates that cellulose EAPap has a similar material behaviour to that of electret polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]