Convection-Free Thermodiffusion in a Water-Ethanol Mixture Subject to Varying Thermal Boundary Conditions

The paper presents a precise numerical simulation of the transport processes in a rectangular cavity saturated with a water-ethanol mixture. The full transient Navier-Stokes equations coupled with the heat and mass transfer equations are solved by the means of the finite volume method. The mixture properties are drawn from the recent work by Dutrieux et al. [1]. The density is assumed to vary linearly with temperature and concentration (Boussinesq approximation) in the working temperature range while other thermo physical properties are held constant. After validation the present code is used for a series of numerical experiments. Thermodiffusion in a liquid-mixture of Ethanol and Water is analyzed under zero gravity condition. Different thermal boundary conditions scenarios are considered to simulate possible thermal control system shortcomings. Results of investigations might help in the preparation and monitoring of the heat sources control systems during the direct Soret coefficient measurement experiments.