Abstract

This paper presents a precise numerical simulation of the transport processes in a rectangular cavity saturated with a binary liquid mixture. The full transient Navier-Stokes equations coupled with the mass and heat transfer equations are solved, numerically, using the finite-volume method. After validation against a proven commercial code comparing solutions on a benchmark natural convection problem, the newly developed code is used for a series of numerical experiments. Realistic thermal boundary conditions have been chosen, and the more drastic situation of power loss while conducting the experiment in microgravity is considered. The molecular and thermal diffusion coefficients are computed from theoretical models. Results reveal that, when vertical walls are held at constant but different temperatures, species separate in both the longitudinal and the transverse directions as radiation is allowed to take place along the horizontal walls. The numerical experiments performed clearly demonstrate that the kinetics of the mass transport in the mixture are conditioned by the ability to monitor the heat sources properly. Specifically, sudden temperature changes strongly disturb species separation in the experimental cells. This paper provides some trends for the accurate analysis of experiments involving mass transport inasmuch as the convective level is low enough to allow evaluation of the transport coefficients