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By interfering with density inhomogeneities induced by the neutralisation reaction, oscillating inertial fields (e.g. vibrations) can alter the evolution of a reactive system.

The buoyancy-driven chemoconvection induced by a neutralization reaction is theoretically studied for a system consisting of nitric acid and sodium hydroxide aqueous solutions placed in a vertically oriented Hele-Shaw cell. This pair of reactants is a representative case of reacting miscible acid–base systems investigated experimentally in Part 1 of this work (Mizev et al., J. Fluid Mech., vol. 916, 2021, A22.). We showed that the list of the possible instabilities in this system is much richer than previously thought. A new scenario for pattern formation depends on a single parameter denoted by , then a potential well collapses, and a shock-wave-like structure with an almost planar front occurs. This wave propagates fast compared with the diffusion time and acts as a turbulent bore separating immobile fluid and an area of intense convective mixing. Finally, we determine the place of the above instabilities in an extended classification of known instability types.

An experimental investigation of chemically triggered convection is carried out. A two-layer system of miscible reactive fluids—the neutralization reaction between an acid and a base—is considered in a vertical Hele-Shaw cell. This system is subject to the action of gravity and vertical translational vibrations (modulated gravity). During the reaction, a less dense salt solution emerges in the reaction zone, thus triggering the buoyancy-driven convection in the form of concentration plumes rising in the upper layer. The particle image velocimetry is used as the method of study. The considered system is non-stationary, and a technique is developed for the processing of a long series of images registered during experiments. The evolution of the flow structures and of the convection intensity is analyzed. In the considered range of experimental parameters the vibrations slightly slow down the convection.

In this paper, the mixing process of two solutions of inorganic salts in a continuous flow channel with Y-type micromixer is investigated. Due to different diffusivity rates of solutes the double-diffusion convection develops in the channel. To visualize convective flows and the distribution of mixing substances the shear interferometer technique and a fluorescent dye are used. The latter makes it possible to quantify the mixing degree. The mixing extent for different volume flow rates is calculated. The comparison of convection and pure diffusion mechanisms of mixing is provided.

The diffusion coefficients of aqueous solutions of lithium, sodium, potassium, and cesium hydroxide in a concentration range of 0 to 3.0 mol/L were obtained at 25 °C and normal pressure. The Fizeau interferometer and the spatial phase-shifting method were used to measure the spatial distribution of concentration of the investigated substances. The concentration dependence of the diffusion coefficient was determined from the Matano-Boltzmann analysis. The experimental setup and techniques, as well as the image and data processing procedure, were tested using an aqueous solution of nitric acid. The comparison made for lithium, sodium, and potassium hydroxides indicated good agreement between the obtained results and the data collected from the literature. The concentration dependence of the diffusion coefficient for cesium hydroxide in water was found experimentally for the first time.

Continuous-flow microfluidic devices are applied in the study of microorganisms, in genetic research, production of pharmaceutical substances, lab-on-a-chip technology, biomedicine etc. Some applications require continuous mixing of the solutions that flow through the devices. However, straight-line mechanical mixing methods cannot be used due to the small size of the channels. In this paper, we discuss from a theoretical and experimental point of view the prospects of using various mechanisms of natural or forced convection for efficient mixing of solutions entering a microfluidic chip. Different designs of micromixers operating on gravity-dependent instabilities of the Rayleigh-Taylor type, double diffusion convection, and surface-dependent Marangoni instability are considered. Micromixers, in which the fluid flow is controlled by an electro-osmotic mechanism and directional deformations of the channel walls, are considered as examples of forced convection. For each case, we will provide the assessment of the range of chip sizes in which this mixing mechanism works effectively. The examples of experimental implementation of different mixing principles are given.

The development of convective instability in a two-layer system of miscible fluids placed in a narrow vertical gap has been studied theoretically and experimentally. The upper and lower layers are formed with aqueous solutions of acid and base, respectively. When the layers are brought into contact, the frontal neutralization reaction begins. We have found experimentally a new type of convective instability, which is characterized by the spatial localization and the periodicity of the structure observed for the first time in the miscible systems. We have tested a number of different acid–base systems and have found a similar patterning there. In our opinion, it may indicate that the discovered effect is of a general nature and should be taken into account in reaction–diffusion–convection problems as another tool with which the reaction can govern the movement of the reacting fluids. We have shown that, at least in one case (aqueous solutions of nitric acid and sodium hydroxide), a new type of instability called as the concentration-dependent diffusion convection is responsible for the onset of the fluid flow. It arises when the diffusion coefficients of species are different and depend on their concentrations. This type of instability can be attributed to a variety of double-diffusion convection. A mathematical model of the new phenomenon has been developed using the system of reaction–diffusion–convection equations written in the Hele–Shaw approximation. It is shown that the instability can be reproduced in the numerical experiment if only one takes into account the concentration dependence of the diffusion coefficients of the reagents. The dynamics of the base state, its linear stability and nonlinear development of the instability are presented. It is also shown that by varying the concentration of acid in the upper layer one can achieve the occurrence of chemo-convective solitary cell in the bulk of an almost immobile fluid. Good agreement between the experimental data and the results of numerical simulations is observed.

In this work, we focus on the processes which accompany a frontal neutralization reaction occurring between two miscible fluids filling a vertical Hele-Shaw cell. We have found that chemically-induced changes of reagent concentrations coupled with concentration- dependent diffusion (CDD) can produce spatially localized low density areas which are sensitive to the external inertial field. In the case of static gravity we have demonstrated both experimentally and theoretically that it can give rise to the development of perfectly periodic convective structure. This scenario is strikingly different from the irregular density fingering, which is typically observed in the miscible systems. When the system is under the influence of the periodic low-frequency vibrations perpendicular to the reaction front, we found numerically the excitation of a mixed-mode instability combining the double-diffusion instabilities and the Rayleigh-Taylor mechanism of the convection within the low density areas.

This paper focuses on experimental investigations of the spatio-temporal distributions of fluid velocity and temperature and the concentration of reagents and reaction products. We study concentration-dependent diffusion (CDD) convection driven by the neutralization reaction in a two-layer miscible system in a vertical Hele-Shaw cell using the original experimental complex. A comprehensive understanding of the physical mechanisms of convective motion and instabilities requires employing various experimental methods simultaneously. The proposed experimental complex provides simultaneous visualization and facilitates identification of the location of the reaction front, which is of importance to the study of its characteristics.

Solutal advective flow induced in a horizontal shallow layer by the initial longitudinal steplike density distribution becomes unstable when the solutal P\'eclet number exceeds the critical value. The P\'eclet number uniquely determines the spatiotemporal characteristics of the secondary flow.

We report shock-wave-like structures that are strikingly different from previously observed fingering instabilities, which occur in a two-layer system of miscible fluids reacting by a second-order reaction A+B→S in a vertical Hele-Shaw cell. While the traditional analysis expects the occurrence of a diffusion-controlled convection, we show both experimentally and theoretically that the exothermic neutralization reaction can also trigger a wave with a perfectly planar front and nearly discontinuous change in density across the front. This wave propagates fast compared with the characteristic diffusion times and separates the motionless fluid and the area with anomalously intense convective mixing. We explain its mechanism and introduce a new dimensionless parameter, which allows to predict the appearance of such a pattern in other systems. Moreover, we show that our governing equations, taken in the inviscid limit, are formally analogous to well-known shallow-water equations and adiabatic gas flow equations. Based on this analogy, we define the critical velocity for the onset of the shock wave which is found to be in the perfect agreement with the experiments.

The effect of the universal acid-base indicator on the pattern formation and mass transfer in a two-layer system composed of two reactive miscible liquids in a vertical Hele-Shaw cell is studied experimentally. The reaction we study is a neutralization one. It turns out that the presence of the indicator leads to a change in the spatio-temporal characteristics of the system and even in the mass transfer mechanism near the reaction front—from diffusive to convective. The conditions, where the universal indicator does not affect the reaction and can be used as a visualizing mean, are reported.