Environmental Transport Processes: Diffusion and Dispersion Problems

How do pollutants spread through lakes, rivers, and the atmosphere? Understanding environmental transport processes is critical for predicting water quality, air pollution dispersion, and ecological health. This text-only course guides you through the foundational physics of transport processes, focusing on conceptual models of diffusion and dispersion. You will learn to translate complex environmental scenarios into solvable mathematical equations, building a strong analytical toolkit for civil and environmental engineering challenges. What you'll learn: Understand the fundamental physical mechanisms of molecular diffusion and turbulent dispersion; Formulate conceptual models to track pollutants in water bodies and the atmosphere; Apply Fick's laws of diffusion to solve steady-state and transient transport problems; Calculate concentration profiles over time using analytical solutions and mass balance principles; Evaluate environmental mixing scenarios using modern dimensional analysis and scaling arguments. The course begins with foundational definitions of mass transport and fluid properties before moving into step-by-step problem-solving guides and practical environmental scenarios. This course is designed for beginners in environmental science, civil engineering, or public health who want to build a solid foundation in transport phenomena. Start analyzing and solving environmental mixing problems today.