Some Aspects of Heat and Mass Transfer in Porous Media

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a systematical derivation of the equations of Row in porous media with heat and mass transfer, and of the different types of approximations used in applications. Physical interpretation and estimates of order of magnitude, rather than intricate mathematical derivations, are emphasized. The considerations are limited to the cases of an immobile and inert solid matrix and a slightly compressible liquid undergoing a slight density variation that is, having a low solute concentration and a moderate temperature drop. The flow is assumed to be in the Darcian regime. The Schmidt number (viscosity over diffusion coefficients) is of order 10 3 . Mass transfer in isothermic conditions is studied with applications to problems of mixing of fresh and salt waters in aquifers, miscible displacements in oil reservoirs, spreading of solutes in fluidized beds and crystal washers, salt leaching in soils, and so on. Heat transfer, in the case of a homogeneous fluid, is studied less systematically, but rather extensively, with relation to different applications, like: dynamics of hot underground springs; terrestrial heat flow through aquifer; hot fluid and ignition front displacements in reservoir engineering; heat exchange (with evaporation and condensation) between surface soil and atmosphere; flow of moisture through porous industrial materials; heat exchanges with fluidized beds, and so on.