Concentrato: Transport of Dispersed Mass

Abstract

The root “concentrato” is newly coined in this book to represent any process involving the evolution or/and equilibrium of the concentration field. In other words, it is used as a generic term for various mechanisms underlying the mass transport of dispersed phases in mixtures such as solutions, colloids, and suspensions in the context of multiphysics. This chapter first clarifies the different definitions of concentrations. Following the clarification on the basic terms, the formulation of the general governing equation of the concentration field will be given out. Additional effort will be made to introduce the three major dispersed mass transport mechanisms in detail, i.e., advection, diffusion, and dispersion. The introduction will cover the definitions, origins in physics, mathematical formulations, material properties, and applications in porous materials. A practice problem developed from a documented test will be presented at the end to exemplify the implementation of the concentration field.