Complex dynamics of planar liquid sheets induced by heat and mass transfer

The effects of heat and mass addition into the gases surrounding a confined, inviscid, planar liquid sheet are investigated by means of a one-dimensional fluid dynamics model for the liquid and integro-differential equations for the heat and mass exchanges between the gases and the sheet, under the assumption that the gases behave as in a completely stirred chemical reactor. Analytical solutions to the energy and gas concentration equations in the liquid are obtained for steady flows. It is shown that the fluid dynamics equations for the liquid sheet are coupled in a non-linear integro-differential manner to those of the gases surrounding the liquid, and that heat exchanges between the gases and the liquid are faster than mass exchanges. It is also shown that, depending on the amplitude and frequency of the sinusoidal heat addition, the planar liquid may exhibit complex non-linear dynamics. 2002 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.