Doctor of Philosophy in Physics 

School of Physics Thesis Dissertation Defense

Alex Warhover

Dr. Roman Grigoriev, School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology (Advisor)

A Model for Multiphase Transport in Channels with Porous Walls

Date: Monday, June 29, 2026

Time: 12:30 p.m.

Location: Howey N201/202

Virtual: https://gatech.zoom.us/j/93684214860?pwd=i99JMzQ2BRJbJpUzbXkalbJMwQNFwQ.1

Passcode: 356786

Thesis Committee: 

Dr. Sven Behrens, School of Physics,  Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Michael Schatz, School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Ari Glezer, George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Matthew Realff, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology

Abstract:

Porous media are used in a wide range of applications because they exhibit a large internal surface area. Modeling transport in these applications is challenging because the dynamics are multiscale, involve several coupled processes, and can depend on interactions with nonporous regions. This dissertation develops a coarse-grained model from first principles for multiphase transport in channels with porous walls, motivated by temperature swing adsorption (TSA) carbon capture. The model begins with pore-scale physics, which are extended to the macroscopic scale through volume averaging. The model is then extended to describe gaseous species transport, carbon dioxide adsorption, liquid-water transport, phase change, and heat transfer. Reduced models based on rapid local equilibration are derived to address numerical stiffness while preserving the relevant macroscopic dynamics. The resulting model is applied to multiple stages of TSA operation to identify characteristic time scales. The results show that diffusion through the porous wall plays a central role in setting these time scales, together with advection in the adjacent nonporous flow regions. Accordingly, this dissertation demonstrates how multiscale physics can be integrated into a tractable continuum model for predicting multiphase behavior in porous systems.