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Seminar Speaker: David A. Benson
17 April, 2015 @ 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Associate Professor, Hydrologic Science and Engineering, Colorado School of Mines
Title: “The Fluid Mechanics of Chemical Reactions”
Abstract: The classical rate equations for chemical reactions assume perfect mixing in some volume. In most real systems (atmosphere, ocean, aquifer), poor mixing is the rule. Chemical constituents must be brought into contact by the combined effects of diffusion and flow heterogeneity. An exact expression for particle/particle collision now allows us to predict reaction rates based on any degree of mixing and flow deformation metrics. This allows us, in principle, to upscale reaction rates based on small-scale Darcy-velocity gradients, which are much easier to calculate than transport-based mixing measures.