CIMPA School Nouakchott 2026

Course programme

Introductory courses

Introduction to porous media and pollutant transport

Fundamental concepts of porous media — porosity, permeability, saturation — and fluid transport mechanisms, building on Darcy's law and advection-diffusion equations. Pollutant dispersion and diffusion principles are studied through environmental and industrial applications.
Prof. Linda Luquot

Mathematical and numerical tools for porous media modelling

Partial differential equations applied to pollutant transport and numerical solution methods: finite differences, finite elements, finite volumes. Introduction to stochastic methods for uncertainty modelling, with simulations implemented in Matlab and Python.
Prof. Mustapha El Ossmani

Advanced methods: the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM)

Fundamental principles of LBM, its origin in kinetic theory and its advantages over traditional numerical methods. Applications to multiphase flow and transport processes — interface dynamics, capillary forces — and optimisation of LBM for large-scale simulations.
Dr. Marbe Begnoug

Advanced courses

Transport in fractured media

Characteristics of environments where flow occurs through fracture networks, mathematical tools for flow modelling, stochastic modelling of transfer phenomena under uncertainty, and practical case studies.
Prof. Delphine Roubinet

Multiphase pollutant transport in porous media

Models describing the movement of several phases — water, air, contaminants — interface and capillary force modelling, pore-scale and macroscopic transfers. Applications to oil, gas and pollutant transport in contaminated soils.
Prof. Michel Quintard

Transfers in unsaturated zones and soil biogeochemistry

Dynamics of unsaturated zones and interactions between hydric, chemical and biological flows. Modelling of biogeochemical reactions, sorption and desorption mechanisms, coupled models of the carbon and nitrogen cycles, and the effects of human activity.
Prof. Laurent Orgogozo

Bioremediation and pollutant degradation

The role of micro-organisms and biological processes in pollutant degradation, modelling of biodegradation kinetics in porous media, assessment of bioremediation techniques, and case studies of soil and groundwater clean-up.
Prof. Fabrice Golfier

Applications in energy and the environment

Practical applications of flow and transport in porous media: enhanced oil recovery (EOR), sustainable energy systems, and underground storage for CO₂ sequestration and hydrogen storage.
Prof. Anozie Ebigbo