Characteristics of the Marangoni Convection Induced in Initial Quiescent Water

Abstract

By means of continuous deposition of the surface tension-lowering solvent at the quiescent water surface, the closed-loop Marangoni convection can be induced as a single convection cell at the air−water interface. For this single Marangoni convection cell, its temporal-spatial evolution is visualized by means of the shadowgraph optical method, and its surface radial velocity distribution is measured with the help of the high speed photography technique. Meanwhile, an absorption experiment of CO2 into water, a scaling analysis, and a 2-D numerical simulation are conducted, respectively, to investigate mass transfer performance and flow characteristics of the induced Marangoni convection. Results show that the induced Marangoni convection has the high surface velocity, the sharp velocity gradient is in the immediate vicinity of the water surface, and the velocity of the Marangoni convection in the bulk of water is much less than that near the interface. The high surface velocity of the Marangoni convection ...