MODELING OF HEAT AND MASS-TRANSFER IN UNSATURATED WET POROUS-MEDIA WITH CONSIDERATION OF CAPILLARY HYSTERESIS

The capillary hysteresis is an important behavior of liquid-unsaturate d porous media. The hysteresis effects on the heat and mass transfer a re evident in action in many important cases. The present paper introd uces the minimum driving gradient concept into the analytical studies on the transport phenomena in unsaturated wet porous media. The indivi dual phase equations and total saturation equation of mass transfer, a nd the energy equation for temperature profiles are derived. A hystere tic criterion is introduced with discussions. It is believed that the new efforts on the subject will promote the progress in all the releva nt respects of theories and applications.