Saline water evaporation from porous media is important in many environmental, engineering, and hydrologic processes ranging from soil salinization and crop production to ecosystem functioning and preservation of building and pavement materials. During evaporation process, the capillary flows transport the solute from the wet zone within the porous medium to the vaporization plan at the surface. The interaction of complex transport processes eventually increases salt concentration near the surface and results in salt deposition over the surface. Formation of salt crystals at soil surface primarily changes pore structure and thus evaporative water losses.

We will utilize numerical and experimental tools to quantify the effects of the evolving evaporation-driven crystallized salt at the surface on evaporation dynamics from porous media. In close collaborations with the University of Stuttgart and other collaborators involved in the research, this DFG funded project will provide an opportunity to extend understanding required for accurate description of saline water evaporation from soil and drying porous media