CONCENTRATION FLUCTUATIONS AND STIRRING EFFECTS IN THE BELOUSOV-ZHABOTINSKY REACTION

Concentration heterogeneities and stirring effects on the oscillations of the ferroin-catalyzed BZ reaction have been studied in a batch reactor that is open to the atmosphere. The concentration fluctuations, arising from gas exchange at the liquid-gas interface, were characterized, using microelectrodes, by measuring the spatial correlation function C(d\S) = (E(r) E(r+d)) and studying its dependence on stirring speed S. The S dependence of the correlation le1ngth L(S) varies as L(S) ≈ S-n, where n = 1.36. This agrees well with theory which predicts n = 1.2-1.5 for macroscale eddies. © 1990 American Chemical Society.