Effect of pseudo-gravitational acceleration on the dissolution rate of miscible drops.

The effect of pseudo-gravitational acceleration on the dissolution process of two phase miscible systems has been investigated at high acceleration values using a spinning drop tensiometer with three systems: 1-butanol/water, isobutyric acid/water, and triethylamine/water. We concluded that the dissolution process involves at least three different transport phenomena: diffusion, barodiffusion, and gravitational (buoyancy-driven) convection. The last two phenomena are significantly affected by the centrifugal acceleration acting at the interface between the two fluids, and the coupling with the geometry of the dissolving drop leads to a change of the mass flux during the course of the dissolution process.