Abstract
Free convection in a stably stratified fluid between two vertical plates was investigated experimentally using a NaI solution. Initially, uniform free convection cells were generated after one side wall was heated and the other cooled. The uniform cells grew into two type of cells, uniform cells and nonuniform cells, depending on the heat flux at the wall and the vertical concentration gradient of NaI. The thickness of the nonuniform cells varied, and some of them were so thin that virtually no free convection occurred inside them. On the other hand, free convection occurred equally in each uniform cell. Therefore, the heat and mass transfer in the nonuniform cells was greatly reduced from that in the uniform cells. The mass transfer coefficient was correlated using the Rayleigh number based on the temperature difference of the walls and the initial vertical concentration gradient of NaI. The transfer characteristics in these layers wese also clarified.
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