1) Introduction to the theory of transport phenomena: kinetic theory
(Boltzmann equation, continuous approaches, stochastic methods).
Theory of transport phenomena as the thermodynamics of out-of-equilibrium
(irreversible) processes.

2) Structure of balance equations: concentration/fluxes formulation and
constitutive equations.
Continuous formulation of balance equations for mass, momentum and
energy transport. Thermal balance equation. Lagrangian and Eulerian
approaches to the analysis of transport phenomena. Entropy balance
and its application in the assessment of the thermodynamic consistency of
the constitutive equations. Classical constitutive equations: Fick,
Newton and Fourier laws. Boundary conditions for the mass, momentum
and thermal balance equations.

3) Mass transport. Diffusion in bounded and unbounded domains.
Spectral properties of the Laplacian operator. Classical
case studies of mass transport of chemical engineering interest.
Chromatographic processes and moment analysis.

4) Momentum transport. Navier-Stokes equations. Hydrodynamic regimes:
Stokes and Moffat regime and transition to turbulence.
Inviscid flows and their properties. Incompressible flows: stream
function (in two-dimensional problems) and its properties. Representation
of incompressible flows in three dimensions. Stream function/vorticity
formulation of two-dimensional flow problems.
Elementary flow problems: Poiseuille, Couette flow and other
simple examples. Axial symmetric flows
and solution of the Stokes problems for the motion around a solid
sphere. Stokes law, friction factor and particle motion in a fluid phase.
General solution of the Stokes problem: Oseen tensor and introduction
to computational methods for Stokes flows.

5) Thermal transport: natural and forced convection. Examples. Blackbody
radiation and radiative transfer.

6) Interaction between convection and diffusion: Taylor-Aris dispersion in
straight tubes.
Survey of boundary layer theory.

7) Introduction to the stochastic theory of transport phenomena:
random walk on a lattice, Langevin equation and connection with the
Fickian nature of the constitutive equations.

8) Transport phenomena at microscales: examples and case studies.

Mathematical background) Review of vector analysis. Representation of differential
operators in orthogonal curvilinear systems. Helmholtz decomposition.

1) De Groot, Sybren Ruurds and Mazur, Peter, Non-equilibrium thermodynamics, Dover Publ., 2013.

2) Balescu Radu, Statistical Dynamics: Matter Out of Equilibrium, Imperial Colleg Press. 1997.

3) Bird, R Byron, Stewart, Warren E and Lightfoot, Edwin N, Transport Phenomena, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2004.

4) Dispense curate dal docente.