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    • Numerical Simulations in preparation of a low gravity experiment onboard REXUS 16: Chemical Wave In Soret effect (CWIS)

    Paper number

    IAC-13,A2,3,10,x18383

    Author

    Mr. Antonio Pugliese, United States

    Author

    Mr. Wassilis Tzevelecos, Microgravity Research Center, Belgium

    Author

    Mr. Fabrizio Mancino, Italy

    Coauthor

    Mr. William Runge, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

    Coauthor

    Mr. Luigi De Filippis, Private, Italy

    Coauthor

    Mr. Santolo Manzone, Italy

    Coauthor

    Mr. Valerio Cestrone, Italy

    Coauthor

    Mr. Gabriele Scamardella, Italy

    Year

    2013

    Abstract
    The purpose of the CWIS experiment is to visualize the chemical wave due
to thermodiffusion in a liquid binary mixture.
The chemical wave is represented by a strong concentration gradient
given by thermodiffusion at the beginning of the process.
The milligravity condition will allow to clearly see the effect in the
mixture composed by water and ethylene glycol. This effect cannot be visualized on ground since it is masked by buoyancy.
The concentration of each component of the mixture will be measured
using a Mach Zehnder interferometer.

The very beginning of the phenomenon has never been observed experimentally, but S. Van Vaerenbergh and J. C. Legros in 1990 gave an
analytical demonstration of the enhancing of the process at the boundaries during its initial phase.

The experiment will be performed during the REXUS 16 campaign in Kiruna (Sweden) in March 2014.\\

This paper shows the results of the numerical design process of the experiment.
In order to clearly see what happens at the beginning of the process we should set the velocity of the image acquisition system according to the velocity of the process.
Since the components of the mixture are fixed (and also their initial concentration) the main parameters that are affecting the velocity of
the Soret effect are the intensity of the temperature gradient and the
dimension of the liquid volume along the gradient direction.
A large campaing of numerical simulations allowed to determine those values, in order to clearly see the variation of concentration due to thermodiffusion.
    Abstract document

    IAC-13,A2,3,10,x18383.brief.pdf

    Manuscript document

    IAC-13,A2,3,10,x18383.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).

    To get the manuscript, please contact IAF Secretariat.