Multi-Component Diffusion Study and Stability Analysis

The effect of multi-component diffusive convection in a fluid layer is studied, through both an experimental component and a neutral stability analysis. In addition to the temperature field, the analysis looks at a dissolved salt field and the presence of dye. Using salt- and dye-stratified corn syrup and water mixtures, the destabilizing behaviors common to multi-component convection, oscillations and fingering, were observed within a small range of densities. The neutral stability analysis created a comparison between the Rayleigh numbers for salt, dye, and temperature, such that values given by specified relations between parameters correspond to the destabilizing fingering and oscillatory effects. The initial set up of the experiments indicates that the destabilizing features cannot be solely caused by the multi-component convection understood in the theoretical equations, as they lie in a region where all fields are both statically and dynamically stable. Therefore, there must be other factors involved in the observed diffusion.