DOI: 10.1051/jp3:1997164
J. Phys. III France 7 (1997) 895-908

Hydrodynamical Dispersion in Taylor-Couette Cells

M. Piva¹, A. Calvo¹, A. Aguirre¹, G. Callegari¹, S. Gabbanelli¹, M. Rosen¹ and J. E. Wesfreid<sup>2

1</sup>  Grupo de Medios Porosos, Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ingeniería, UBA Paseo Colón 850, 1063 Buenos Aires, Argentina
²  Physique et Mécanique de Milieux Hétérogènes(PMMH) URA CNRS N°857, École Sup. de Physique et Chimie Industrielles de Paris (ESPCI), 10 rue Vauquelin, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France

(Received 13 April 1996, revised 5 and 12 December 1996, accepted 13 January 1997)

Abstract
In this article we study the mass tracer dispersion in organized flows. For this purpose we performed experiments in the flow arising from the Taylor-Couette hydrodynamic instability combined with axial flow. The tracer evolution is followed by means of optical measurements of the concentration. In this way transmission curves are obtained. We compare these curves with the solutions of the Gaussian models of mass diffusion and with phenomenological models including tracer trapping in the cells. This comparison gives us physical parameters related to the typical time and distances involved in the diffusive behaviour of tracers in the regions with recirculations and trapping.

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