Estimation of dimensionless parameters of Luikov's system for heat and mass transfer in capillary porous media

This work deals with the solution of inverse problems of parameter estimation involving heat and mass transfer in capillary porous media, as described by the linear one-dimensional Luikov's equations. Our main objective is to use the D-optimum criterion to design the experiment with respect to the magnitude of the applied heat flux, heating and final experimental times, as well as the number and locations of sensors. The present parameter estimation problem is solved with Levenberg-Marquardt's method of minimization of the ordinary least-squares norm, by using simulated temperature data containing random errors. Moisture content measured data is not considered available for the inverse analysis in order to avoid quite involved measurement techniques. We show that accurate estimates can be obtained for Luikov, Kossovitch and Biot numbers by using only temperature measurements in the inverse analysis. Also, the experimental time can be reduced if the body is heated during part of the total experimental time. (C) 2002 Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.