Differential diffusion in low Reynolds number water jets

Experimental data on differential diffusion between two species with large and quite disparate Schmidt numbers were obtained in a turbulent water jet by optically measuring the two species concentrations simultaneously. Experimental conditions were chosen so that the species were dilute and did not affect the water density thereby avoiding inertial effects. Differential diffusion was found to be significant in magnitude, even in the absence of these effects. Schmidt number ratios of 4 and 18 were considered. Differential diffusion was found to be statistically significant and to manifest at scales larger than the computed Batchelor scale. In some instances the concentration signal for the species with larger diffusivity was simply a blurred version of the other, while in other instances structures present in one signal were completely absent from the other. This second observation, presumably a more complex effect due to diffusion across velocity gradients, is discussed. © 1998 American Institute of Physics. @S1070-6631~98!00105-6#