This diploma thesis deals with the preparation of solid hydrophilic sponges made of acetalized PVAl. The sponges were produced by foaming by gaseous reaction by-product. The experimental work also includes the study of active compound immobilization into the sponge (finely ground lignite as a heavy metal sorbent).

The limiting current technique has widely been used to study liquid-solid mass transfer in various reactor configurations. In the present contribution several underlying physical aspects have been investigated in order to improve the design of mass transfer experiments. Experimentally, the significant influence of electrolyte composition and hydrodynamic conditions have been studied and quantified to ensure conditions of high reproducibility. In the course of single phase COMSOL simulations, different electrode configurations have been examined with emphasis on concentration fields and electric current distribution showing a large sensitivity of the experimental configuration on the absolute current values.

The limiting current technique has widely been used to study liquid-solid mass transfer in various reactor configurations. In the present contribution several underlying physical aspects have been investigated in order to improve the design of mass transfer experiments. Experimentally, the significant influence of electrolyte composition and hydrodynamic conditions have been studied and quantified to ensure conditions of high reproducibility. In the course of single phase COMSOL simulations, different electrode configurations have been examined with emphasis on concentration fields and electric current distribution showing a large sensitivity of the experimental configuration on the absolute current values.

Cette thèse se focalise sur les écoulements gaz-liquide dans un milieu poreux, problématique rencontrée dans des domaines variés allant de la physique fondamentale à la chimie appliquée. Nous avons caractérisé expérimentalement les régimes hydrodynamiques dans deux géométries différentes : un canal millifluidique (écoulement quasi-1D) et une cellule de Hele-Shaw (écoulement quasi-2D). L’originalité de ce travail est d’analyser l’effet du milieu poreux (lits de billes polydisperses ou mousses solides à cellules ouvertes), du confinement (1D/2D) et de la gravité en couplant des approches locales et globales développées dans les communautés de physique expérimentale et de génie chimique. D’une part, une analyse globale a permis de quantifier les pertes de charge [1] et, basée sur le transport d’un traceur fluorescent, les distributions de temps de séjour [2] et le transfert gaz-liquide dans l’expérience 1D ; d’autre part, une analyse locale de la fraction liquide et l’évolution spatio-temporelle de son contenu fréquentiel ont permis de mettre en évidence deux régimes hydrodynamiques dans le canal millifluidique [3-5] : un régime pseudo-Taylor, où les caractéristiques de l’écoulement périodique amont sont conservées, et un régime modulé, pour lequel l’écoulement se désorganise à l’entrée du milieu poreux. Un modèle phénoménologique basé sur la propagation des bulles dans le milieu est proposé, et rend compte de l’existence de ces deux régimes [4,5]. Enfin, ces deux analyses sont couplées pour étudier les écoulements dans la cellule de Hele-Shaw, et une analyse dimensionnelle de l’effet du confinement et de la gravité sur les écoulements gaz-liquide dans un milieu poreux est proposée.Références –[1] M. Serres, R. Philippe & V. Vidal, to be submitted to Geophys. Res. Lett. (2017). [2] M. Serres, D. Schweich, R. Philippe & V. Vidal, to be submitted to Chem. Eng. Sci. (2017).[3] M. Serres, R. Philippe & V. Vidal, Compte-rendus de la 19e Rencontre du Non-Linéaire, Eds. E. Falcon, M. Lefranc, F. Pétrélis & C.-T. Pham, Non-Linéaire Publications, 109-114 (2016).[4] M. Serres, M.-L. Zanota, R. Philippe & V. Vidal, Int. J. Multiphase Flow 85, 157-163 (2016).[5] M. Serres, T. Maison, R. Philippe & V. Vidal, to be submitted to Int. J. Multiphase Flow (2017). / This thesis focuses on gas-liquid flow in porous media, a common problem encountered in various domains from fundamental physics to applied chemical engineering. We have characterized the hydrodynamic regimes based on two different experimental devices geometry: a millichannel (1D flow) and a Hele-Shaw cell (2D flow). The originality of this work is to analyze the influence of the porous medium (monodisperse micro-packed beds or open cell solid foams), confinement (1D/2D) and gravity by coupling global and local analysis from either chemical engineering or fundamental physics community. On the one hand, a global analysis made it possible to quantify pressure drops, residence time distributions (RTD) based on fluorescent dye transport and gas-liquid mass transfer on the 1D device. On the other hand, a local analysis of the liquid fraction and the spatio-temporal evolution of its frequency pointed out the existence of two hydrodynamic regimes: a Taylor-like regime in which the characteristics of the periodic flow upstream are conserved in the porous medium and a modulated regime characterized by the flow disorganization at the porous medium entrance. A phenomenological model is developed based on bubbles propagation inside the medium and reproduces well both regimes. These two analyses are finally coupled to study multiphase flows inside the Hele-Shaw cell. The effects of gravity and confinement are discussed.