Communication through complex media: a novel interdisciplinary paradigm to bridge information theory and multiscale flow and transport theory.

各种工业应用都面临着理解和控制复杂异质介质中反应传输过程的挑战。特别是，油气和可再生能源领域强烈依赖于多尺度多孔材料的建模和模拟，以及复杂的下游炼油和化学加工操作。从这些系统中提取有价值的数据和信息用于监测和控制，对于确保安全和提高效率至关重要。为实现这一目标，目前正在开发和测试用于嵌入式传感和驱动的纳米传感器网络。然而，在复杂的运输现象和恶劣的环境中，稳健和优化的通信策略的设计仍然具有挑战性。新的通信范式，如受自然启发的分子通信，已被开发用于研究化学简单平流扩散过程的通信内容。然而，我们目前还不了解更复杂的传输模型的通信潜力。因此，该项目的目标是发展复杂多尺度环境中粒子和波输运的信息理论框架的数学基础。流体动力学模型适用于模拟溶质和颗粒在现实多孔介质中的传输，将通过量化感兴趣的通信相关量来开发和研究分析和数值。然后可以通过改变控制物理化学参数和不同的信号编码来优化通信信道。由于道达尔的合作，这将应用于纳米颗粒技术的应用。

A variety of industrial applications are faced with challenges in understanding and control reactive transport processes in complex heterogeneous media. In particular, the Oil&Gas and renewable energy sector strongly relies on the modelling and simulation of multiscale porous materials, as well as complex downstream refining and chemical processing operations. Extracting valuable data and information from these systems for monitoring and control is crucial to ensure safety and increase efficiencies. Networks of nano-sensors for embedded sensing and actuation are currently being developed and tested to this aim.However, the design of robust and optimal communication strategies, in presence of complex transport phenomena and harsh environments remains challenging. New communication paradigms, such as the nature-inspired molecular communication, have been developed to study the communication content of chemical simple advection-diffusion processes. However, we currently have no understanding of the potential for communication of more complex transport models.The goal of the project is, therefore, to develop the mathematical basis of an information theoretical framework for transport of particles and waves in complex multiscale environments.Fluid dynamics model suitable for modelling the transport of solutes and particles in realistic porous media will be developed and studied analytically and numerically, by quantifying communication-relevant quantities of interest. The communication channel can be then optimised varying controlling physicochemical parameters and different signal encoding. This will be applied to nanoparticle technologies application thanks to the collaboration of TOTAL.