On freezing of a finite humid porous medium with a heat flux condition considering the factor for phase conversion

This work deals with a theoretical mathematical analysis of freezing (desublimation) of moisture in a finite porous medium with heat-flux condition in x=0. The position of phase change front at time t, given by x =s (t), divides the porous body into two regions. In the first region there is no moisture movement, and in the other one the process of the coupled heat and moisture flows is described by the well known Luikov's system, considering that the factor for phase conversion is non zero. Equivalence between this problem and a system of Volterra integral equations is found. The existence of a unique local solution in time for this problem is also obtained. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)