ABSTRACT

Transport of multicomponent gas mixtures in capillaries and porous media plays a vital role in many industrial applications. The engineering importance of the subject is evident from the large number of experimental and theoretical investigations performed by many authors over the last century. Catalytic reactive ows are a well-known example [1], where gas transport plays a vital role. For example, in fuel cell technology, mass transport processes through the porous catalyst layer and gas diffusion layer limit the fuel cell performance at high current densities [2]. Nanoscale diffusion across interfaces in multilayers has also recently gained great attention [3]. Gas transport in porous media is the dominant process in other ‰elds such as food processing, oil and gas exploration, environmental remediation of contaminated sites, and carbon sequestration. Hence, discovering the true physical processes underlying these transport phenomena reveals mathematical models that can be effectively used to evaluate and optimize the performance and design of such systems [4].