Soret and Dufour effects on double-diffusive convection in a salinity gradient solar pond

Abstract

A mathematical model for multi-diffusive convection with Soret and Dufour effects is developed to simulate the behavior of a salinity gradient solar pond (SGSP) in this study. The influence of Soret and Dufour effects on the double-diffusive natural convection of the SGSP and also the distribution of velocity, temperature and salt concentration fields are discussed using distribution functions of the lattice Boltzmann method. The results show that the Soret effect plays a role in promoting temperature and concentration diffusion, while the Dufour effect has a certain suppression influence on temperature diffusion and improves the concentration diffusion. Moreover, the influence of the Soret effect in the SGSP is more obvious than the Dufour effect on double diffusion. Simultaneously, the relationship between the buoyancy ratio and the Soret and Dufour effects is also discussed.