Abstract
Microgravity environments may provide perspective platforms for studying the phenomenon of thermal diffusion. It is, however, noted that the residual microaccelerations (g-jitters) in space laboratories may affect the accuracy of experiments due to convections that they induce. An appropriate interpretation of experimental results from the Space relies on a thorough understanding of the influence of g-jitters on thermal diffusion. In this paper, we have modelled the thermal diffusion process under different microgravity environments using measured g-jitter data onboard the International Space Station (ISS) and FOTON-12. The fluid system consists of a rectangular cavity filled with a ternary mixture of methane, n-butane and dodecane (50∶20∶30 mol%). A lateral heating condition is applied. Various case scenarios have been studied with respect to different locations in the ISS and FOTON; and a detailed analysis is made in comparison with the ideal zero gravity (0-g) scenario. It is found that the diffusion process is only slightly affected by the g-jitters in both platforms. Recommendations are made according to the findings from this study for the improvement of the accuracy of diffusion experiments in Space.
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