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Thermodiffusion in Ternary Mixtures of Water/Ethanol/Triethylene Glycol: First Report on the DCMIX3-Experiments Performed on the International Space Station

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Abstract

We report on thermodiffusion experiments conducted on the International Space Station ISS during fall 2016. These experiments are part of the DCMIX (Diffusion and thermodiffusion Coefficients Measurements in ternary Mixtures) project, which aims at establishing a reliable data base of non-isothermal transport coefficients for selected ternary liquid mixtures. The third campaign, DCMIX3, focuses on aqueous systems with water/ethanol/triethylene glycol as an example, where sign changes of the Soret coefficient have already been reported for certain binary subsystems. Investigations have been carried out with the SODI (Selectable Optical Diagnostics Instrument) instrument, a Mach-Zehnder interferometer set up inside the Microgravity Science Glovebox in the Destiny Module of the ISS. Concentration changes within the liquids have been monitored in response to an external temperature gradient using phase-stepping interferometry. The complete data set has been made available in spring 2017. Due to additionally available measurement time, it was possible to collect a complete data set at 30C and an almost complete data set at 25C, which significantly exceeds the originally envisaged measurements at a single temperature only. All samples could be measured successfully. The SODI instrument and the DCMIX experiments have proven reliable and robust, allowing to extract meaningful data even in case of unforeseen laser instabilities. First assessments of the data quality have revealed six out of 31 runs with some problems in image contrast and/or phase step stability that will require more sophisticated algorithms. This publication documents all relevant parameters of the conducted experiments and also events that might have an influence on the final results. The compiled information is intended to serve as a starting point for all following data evaluations.

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Acknowledgements

We want to thank ESA and Roscosmos for providing the flight and operations opportunity and Ana Frutos Pastor and Ewald Kufner from ESA/ESTEC and Ingmar Lafaille and Johan Buytaert from QinetiQ Space for their support during the DCMIX3 campaign. This work has been developed in the framework of the cooperative project DCMIX (No. AO-2009-0858/1056) of the European Space Agency and the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos)/TsNIIMash. WK and TT acknowledge support from the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (Grants 50WM1130, 50WM1544). QG, AM, VS and SVV acknowledge support from the PRODEX program of Belgian Federal Science Policy Office (BELSPO). MBA and JOZ acknowledges support from the Spanish ‘Agencia Estatal de Investigación’ (Grant FIS2014-58950). XR and JG acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, MINECO (Grant number ESP2014-53603-P). HB and FC acknowledge support from the Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (Grants 170048/00, 2016/4800000877).

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Triller, T., Bataller, H., Bou-Ali, M.M. et al. Thermodiffusion in Ternary Mixtures of Water/Ethanol/Triethylene Glycol: First Report on the DCMIX3-Experiments Performed on the International Space Station. Microgravity Sci. Technol. 30, 295–308 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12217-018-9598-5

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