Multi-component convection-diffusion in a porous medium (Q1368300)

The author presents linear stability analysis of the triple diffusive problem in a porous medium. The problem is formulated for heat flux and two salt concentrations as for three stratified agencies. Two cases are solved by energy method: (i) when all three stratified agencies are destablizing, and (ii) the heating is from below with one salt field destabilizing and the other stabilizing. All results are analyzed numerically, and highly unusual neutral curves are obtained for some values of thermal and solute diffusivities. The author shows that three critical Rayleigh numbers are required to specify the linear stability criteria, which is a novel result in the theory of convection in porous media.