SFB 1313's external partner and Mercator Fellow Majid Hassanizadeh (Utrecht University, Netherlands) will give the InterPore online short course "Capillarity in Porous Media at Different Scales" from 12 to 15 January 2021.
About the Short Course
In this short course, a systematic approach is taken to the understanding of capillarity in porous media at different scales. Current definitions of capillary pressure, which have mainly an empirical character, are revisited and it is shown that they are special cases of a more general theory of capillarity.
First, capillary pressure is defined at pore scale based on the equation of momentum conservation for a fluid-fluid interface. It is shown that, even at microscale, capillary pressure is equal to the difference in pressures of the two fluids only under static conditions. General equations for dynamic or non- equilibrium conditions are derived. Then, capillary pressure at the macroscale (Darcy scale) is introduced based on principle of thermodynamics, and its relationship to fluid pressures under static and dynamic conditions is explored. Non-equilibrium capillarity theory and its effects on the modelling of moisture transport and two-phase flow processes are discussed. Computational and experimental studies are presented that investigate new generalized equations in variety of systems, such as water infiltration into dry soil, penetration of liquids into absorbing hygienic tissues, and moisture transport in fuel cells.