Multicomponent Thermal Diffusion
Mass diffusion in multicomponent mixtures due to temperature gradients is referred to as the Soret effect. This occurs in mixtures with high temperature gradients and large variations in molecular weight (or size) of the species. Typically species with high molecular weight accumulate in lower temperature regions while the diffusion due to the Soret effect transports species with low molecular weight to higher temperature regions. In COMSOL Multiphysics, thermal diffusion is included by prescribing the thermal diffusion coefficients . In a multicomponent mixture, the sum of the thermal diffusion coefficients is zero: