ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the fundamental transport mechanisms involved in many environmental engineering problems and outlines the principles and scaling laws related to the centrifuge modelling of such mechanisms. It describes the circumstances under which these conditions will be observed, with specific reference to the work. The chapter presents fundamental conservation equations that describe mass, heat and contaminant transport in a porous medium. In general, the transport of any quantity through a porous medium is classically described by a conservation equation that models the fate of that quantity in a macroscopic continuum. Heat transport is described by a thermal energy balance equation that is based upon conservation of enthalpy in the fluid and solid phases of the porous medium. The potential for centrifuge modelling of contaminant transport with physical, non-equilibrium, and sorption is coupled with the feasibility of scaling inter-region transport. The chapter reviews work from several different projects concerning centrifuge modelling of contaminant transport.
