Dissolution of a vertical solid surface by turbulent compositional convection

We examine the dissolution of a vertical solid surface in the case where the heat and mass transfer is driven by turbulent compositional convection. A theoretical model of the turbulent dissolution of a vertical wall is developed, which builds on the scaling analysis presented by Kerr (J. Fluid Mech...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of fluid mechanics Vol. 765; pp. 211 - 228
Main Authors Kerr, Ross C., McConnochie, Craig D.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 25.02.2015
Subjects
Ablation
Climate change
Computational fluid dynamics
Convection
Dissolution
Dissolving
Fluid flow
Fluids
Heat transfer
Mass transfer
Melting
Oceans
Salinity
Scaling
Science
Seawater
Turbulence
Water temperature
Antarctica
Greenland
phase change
turbulent convection
solidification/melting
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Summary:We examine the dissolution of a vertical solid surface in the case where the heat and mass transfer is driven by turbulent compositional convection. A theoretical model of the turbulent dissolution of a vertical wall is developed, which builds on the scaling analysis presented by Kerr (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 280, 1994, pp. 287–302) for the turbulent dissolution of a horizontal floor or roof. The model has no free parameters and no dependence on height. The analysis is tested by comparing it with laboratory measurements of the ablation of a vertical ice wall in contact with salty water. The model is found to accurately predict the dissolution velocity for water temperatures up to approximately 5– $6\,^{\circ }\text{C}$ , where there is a transition from turbulent dissolution to turbulent melting. We quantify the turbulent convective dissolution of vertical ice bodies in the polar oceans, and compare our results with some field observations.
ISSN:0022-1120
1469-7645
DOI:10.1017/jfm.2014.722