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Spontaneous interfacial cellular convection accompanying mass transfer: Ethylene glycol‐acetic acid‐ethyl acetate
Author(s) -
Orell Aluf,
Westwater J. W.
Publication year - 1962
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.690080317
Subject(s) - ethylene glycol , acetic acid , chemistry , mass transfer , ethyl acetate , schlieren , convection , ethylene , analytical chemistry (journal) , chromatography , optics , thermodynamics , organic chemistry , catalysis , physics
Spontaneous interfacial cellular convection accompanying the extraction of acetic acid out of ethylene glycol with ethyl acetate was studied photographically with a Schlieren technique. A flat liquid‐liquid interface at room temperature was photographed straight down with motion‐picture and still cameras. The interface exhibited a dominant pattern of stationary and propagating polygonal cells, accompanied by stripes, cell cluster boundaries, and confined or unconfined ripples. The time‐dependence of the average wave length (size) of the different patterns, their average speed of propagation, and their frequency was determined by means of an initial acetic acid concentration range of 0.1 to 10%, over a time span of 72 hr. The average wave lengths of cells, stripes, and ripples ranged from 0.02 to 0.14, 0.065 to 0.155, and from 0.03 to 0.10 cm., respectively. Cell and ripple velocities ranged from 0.27 to 1.33, and from 0.27 to 1.10 cm./min. respectively. The relation between the observed interfacial cellular convection and the Sternling‐Scriven theory of interfacial turbulence is discussed.