| In this document, three problems were examined to enhance the understanding of transport phenomena related to interfacial phenomena. Each of these problems: (1) the effect of an external field on a fluid phase (supercritical adsorption), (2) a dispersed system (flow of three immiscible phases in porous media), and (3) a system involving a phase change (crystallization), handled an interface or an interfacial region in the context of continuum mechanics. In the first problem, a continuum model of supercritical fluids (gases above their critical temperature) on a planar nonporous homogeneous solid (graphitized carbon black) was developed and successfully compared with experimental data. In the second problem, a model was successfully developed for estimating the relative permeabilities (flow) of three immiscible phases in porous media. This model relied heavily on continuum characterization of phase interfaces and the pore geometry via local volume averaging. The third problem analyzed the effects of induced convection upon the rate of crystallization. |
