Abstract
Two preliminary experiments show that a non-equilibrium situation can be easily encountered during a natural drying process. This leads us to reconsider the thermodynamic local equilibrium assumption, and propose a macroscopic two-equation model that takes into account mass exchange kinetics between the liquid and vapour phase. Numerical simulation of this theoretical model is then compared to experimental drying kinetics of soil columns. The discrepancies observed between the theoretical prediction and the experimental results are discussed. This contribution emphasizes the importance of such non-equilibrium phenomenon when modelling water transport in hygroscopic porous media.