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This talk will focus on research done during my graduate studies in the area of coastal currents and evaporation fronts in porous media.
Coastal currents: Increasing concerns regarding the deterioration of our oceanic and atmospheric environments are leading to an increased emphasis on research leading to better forecasting. Among the concerns is the vanishing ozone layer, climate change, including global warming, and the release, transport and the disposal of pollutants. For the foreseeable future, forecasts will almost certainly be realized by employing sophisticated numerical simulations. This project was aimed to improve our understanding of oceanic bottom boundary layer processes and the interplay between the physical processes occurring in the bottom boundary layers, the ocean interior and the coastal zone. The research, which is focused primarily on laboratory simulations, is directed toward the development of data sets which can be used as a surrogate for in situ ocean measurements and thus can be used as benchmarks for numerical model development.
Evaporation fronts: Evaporating fronts propagate through porous media during drying processes, underground coal gasification (UCG), geothermal energy production from hot dry rock, and around nuclear waste repositories. In many geophysical processes the location of the evaporating front (interface) is of primary interest. For example in a UCG process, understanding and controlling the front location is critical because the transport phenomena at the front control the amount of water injected to the cavity and the transport of heat and mass, including potential contaminants, away from the cavity. Experimental and computational studies have been conducted to model the propagation of evaporating fronts through porous media. High intensity drying is modeled numerically and the relationship between pressure, the drying conditions and material properties is examined since elevated pressure that can occur during high intensity drying is potentially destructive. A quasi two-dimensional numerical model with specific application to UCG is presented.
Dr. Krishna Pakala, Boise State University
Presented January 22, 2016
About the Presenter
About the Presenter
Dr. Krishna Pakala is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Department at Boise State University, Boise, Idaho. He teaches courses in the thermal and fluid science discipline including a first-year course. He is also the Faculty in Residence for the Engineering Living and Learning Community. He received his Bachelors at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad and Masters from Arizona State University. He received his Ph.D. from University of Wyoming. All his major study was in the field of Mechanical Engineering. Although he had pursued creative and independent research during his graduate studies, he found that his calling is toward teaching and methods to improve teaching and learning. His long term goals are creating multi-media, high-impact and digital delivery of course content. He is also interested in developing and exploring new methods for knowledge delivery and is also interested in scholarship of learning.
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