Conduits of steady-state autocatalytic plumes

Plumes are typically formed when a continuous source of buoyancy is supplied at a localized source. We studied laminar plumes where buoyancy is supplied by an autocatalytic chemical reaction: The iodate-arsenous acid (IAA) reaction. The nonlinear kinetics of the IAA reaction produces a sharp propagating front at which buoyancy is produced by exothermicity and compositional change. When the reaction is initiated in an unconfined volume of reactant, a starting plume with a mushroom shaped head connected to the initiation point by a long conduit is formed. After the initial transient during the ascent of the head, we observed the emergence of a steady state in the conduit morphology and flow. Autocatalytic plumes were compared to nonreacting, compositionally buoyant plumes using the Gradient Echo Rapid Velocity and Acceleration Imaging Sequence (GERVAIS), an MRI velocimetric technique. Autocatalytic conduits had axisymmetric bimodal velocity profiles and cone-shaped morphologies, in contrast to the Gaussian profiles and cylindrical shapes of nonreacting conduits. The bimodal distribution for autocatalytic plumes is a consequence of the unique effect of entrainment in this system. Rather than the usual effect of entrainment in nonreacting plumes, where less buoyant fluid is incorporated into the plumes, entrainment in autocatalytic plumes provides a buoyancy flux along the entire conduit by means of chemical reaction, thereby delocalizing the buoyancy source.