Concentration-dependent diffusion instability in reactive miscible fluids.
We report on chemoconvective pattern formation phenomena observed in a two-layer system of miscible fluids filling a vertical Hele-Shaw cell. We show both experimentally and theoretically that the concentration-dependent diffusion coupled with frontal acid-base neutralization can give rise to the formation of a local unstable zone low in density, resulting in a perfectly regular cell-type convective pattern. The described effect gives an example of yet another powerful mechanism which allows the reaction-diffusion processes to govern the flow of reacting fluids under gravity conditions.
Theoretical Physics Department, Perm State Humanitarian Pedagogical University, 614990 Perm, Russia.
Dmitry
D
Bratsun
Institute of Continuous Media Mechanics, Academica Koroleva Street 1, 614013 Perm, Russia.
Konstantin
K
Kostarev
Institute of Continuous Media Mechanics, Academica Koroleva Street 1, 614013 Perm, Russia.
Aleksey
A
Mizev
Institute of Continuous Media Mechanics, Academica Koroleva Street 1, 614013 Perm, Russia.
Elena
E
Mosheva