Weisensee to study heat transfer in microporous media

Patricia Weisensee, assistant professor of mechanical engineering & materials science, has received a two-year, $110,000 grant from the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund to study the effect of heat transfer on the development of flow fields in 2D microporous media. Non-isothermal, multiphase flow in porous media is abundant in the petroleum sector, including natural flow in geological formations, enhanced oil recovery and oil-water separation in membranes. Weisensee's research may lead to a paradigm shift in understanding two-phase flow through porous media.