Concentration-dependent diffusion in a composite slab with and without chemical reactions

Concentration-dependent diffusion of solute in a composite slab is investigated. The complex diffusion problem can be described by a set of nonlinear diffusion equations which is coupled to each other through the nonlinear interfacial boundary conditions. A two-layer diffusion is illustrated and the coupled nonlinear diffusion equations are conveniently solved by the orthogonal collocation method. Numerical simulation of the example reveals many interesting diffusion characteristics which are quite different from those in a single slab diffusion system.Nomenclature a _j expansion coefficient - A _i,j element of collocation matrix - B _i,j element of collocation matrix - C _a , C _b surface concentration - C _i concentration in the ith layer - D _i diffusion coefficient in the ith layer - D _i0 diffusion coefficient at very low concentration - k _i reaction rate in the ith layer - K _i dimensionless reaction rate, k _i l _i ² c _a ^m–1 /D ₁₀ - l _i thickness of the ith layer - m order of chemical reaction - n order of the orthogonal polynomial approximation - P _j–1(x _i ) orthogonal polynomial of order j - t time - x _i coordinate of the ith layer - X _i dimensionless coordinate of the ith layer, x _i/l _i - ratio of diffusion coefficient at low concentration, D ₂₀/D ₁₀ - ratio of thicknesses of layer, l ₁/l ₂ - _i dimensionless parameter in the concentration-dependent function of the ith layer - ratio of surface concentration, C _b /C _a - dimensionless time, tD ₁₀/l ₁ ² - _i dimensionless concentration in the ith layer, C _i /C _a