Predicting the progress of diffusively limited chemical reactions in the presence of chaotic advection

TL;DR

This study investigates how chaotic advection influences the progress of fast chemical reactions in 2D flows, revealing that a single parameter can predict reaction outcomes across different flow conditions.

Contribution

It introduces a predictive parameter *N that accurately forecasts reaction progress in chaotic flows, integrating flow symmetry, Reynolds number, and mixing cycles.

Findings

The parameter *N effectively predicts total reaction product over time.

Flow symmetry and Reynolds number significantly influence reaction distribution.

Chaotic advection enhances mixing and reaction efficiency.

Abstract

The effects of chaotic advection and diffusion on fast chemical reactions in two-dimensional fluid flows are investigated using experimentally measured stretching fields and fluorescent monitoring of the local concentration. Flow symmetry, Reynolds number, and mean path length affect the spatial distribution and time dependence of the reaction product. A single parameter \lambda*N, where \lambda is the mean Lyapunov exponent and N is the number of mixing cycles, can be used to predict the time-dependent total product for flows having different dynamical features.