Taught by Ricardo Torres Cámara and Francesc Font Martínez

This course deals with flows and heat transfer in porous media along with their applications. Firstly, the different conditions and characteristics of flows in porous media are listed and described in detail: slow flow in porous media with Darcy’s law, fast flow in porous media with Brinkman’s equations and flow in porous media of varying saturation with Richard’s equation. Non-Darcian, fracture and multiphase flows in porous media will also be discussed. The description will be accompanied by the theoretical foundations on which each physical interface is based.

Secondly, we will also present the modifications of the heat transfer equations to adapt them to the case of porous media, as well as the coupling with moisture transport. In the latter case, we will address the problems of condensation and evaporation.

Finally, we will apply everything studied in the course to the modeling of specific applications involving porous media, such as those in the pharmaceutical, food, agricultural, chemical, civil or nuclear engineering industries, to mention just a few.