On the unsteady-state species separation of a binary liquid mixture in a rectangular thermogravitational column

This paper investigates the unsteady-state species segregation of binary liquid mixtures in rectangular thermogravitational columns. The analysis leads to a procedure to obtain both molecular and thermal diffusion coefficients from transient separation measurements. Two models are presented: first, an ideal model where buoyancy only depends on temperature and second, a general model where buoyancy also varies with composition. Steady-state measurements are not required regardless of which model is chosen. As a result, the new procedure is faster than steady-state procedures. When either the molecular or thermal diffusion coefficient is known a priori, the other can be obtained without knowledge of fluid properties such as density, viscosity, thermal expansion, and compositional coefficients. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.