Thorpe, Graham ORCID: 0000-0001-8160-9253 (2024) Heat and mass transfer in hygroscopic porous media: algebraic relationships and MATLAB® script. Research Report. Victoria University, Melbourne, Victoria.

Abstract

Several authors have suggested that published mathematical descriptions of heat and mass transfer that occur in ventilated beds of hygroscopic porous media are complicated. Furthermore, they are sometimes presented in a terse style. In this work algebraic expressions that govern the rates at which transfer waves propagate through beds of hygroscopic porous media are derived in detail. Expressions that govern the behaviour of ventilated beds of porous media that display no, or a high degree of hygroscopy are similarly derived. The governing equations comprise functions of only three parameters that completely describe systems in which thermodynamic equilibrium between the solid and fluid phases exist, and there are no dispersive processes. Significantly, the work includes an annotated MATLAB® script that enables the performance of systems described by Freundlich and Tóth isotherms to be compared. This is in keeping with an objective of the work, namely to make the analysis of heat and mass transfer in beds of hygroscopic media readily accessible to neophytes.

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