Influence of the surface deformability on marangoni instability in a liquid layer with surface chemical reaction: I. Stationary convection

Abstract

A stationary instability due to chemical absorption for an infinite liquid layer placed at a horizontal rigid wall and opened to the ambient gas is studied. A pseudo-first order chemical reaction on the deformable free surface is assumed. A bulk diffusion controlled and adsorption—desorption controlled gas—liquid transfer mechanism is supposed. A linear stability theory is developed. The surface deformability reduces the stability and this result fits better to the experimental data. Depending on the type of the surface chemical reaction the system stability is influenced in two different ways. While the accumulation of the solute by an autocatalytic reaction destabilizes the layer, the surfactant decrease due to a chemical change stabilizes the system. The solute convection along the surface is a profound stabilizing factor. The effects of the liquid phase mass transfer resistance and the surface diffusion on the stability are also considered.