Convection under micro-gravity and its influence on mass transfer

The fundamental physics and industrial applications of Marangoni convection are reviewed, and the design of a Spacelab fluid-physics experiment is briefly characterized. The types of convection (free, chemical-potential, and Marangoni) are explained; their effects on mass-transfer are described; the role of Marangoni convection in industrial processes (steel making, optical recording, coatings, spray towers, plate columns, and packed columns) is surveyed; and nonlinear mass-transfer phenomena are considered. In the Spacelab experiment, activated carbon is used as a sink to absorb acetone from an air layer above an acetone-water mixture, leading to the formation of roll-cell patterns in the liquid. The results are to be compared with those of identical experiments on the ground and with theoretical computations based on linearized perturbation analysis.