Moments analysis of restricted ternary diffusion: sodium sulfite + sodium hydroxide + water

Ternary diffusion coefficients can be determined from restricted-diffusion experiments by evaluating zeroth and first time moments of the difference in a concentration-dependent property measured at two levels along the diffusion column. The method is used to determine ternary diffusion coefficients for aqueous sodium sulfite + sodium hydroxide solutions from conductance measurements. It is shown that these data can be analyzed to obtain the ternary diffusivity of sulfur dioxide in strongly alkaline solutions where sulfite is the major transporting species for the sulfur dioxide component. At high pH values, coupled flow of hydroxide ions leads to a significant increase in the diffusivity of the sulfur dioxide component relative to its diffusivity in pure water. Binary diffusion coefficients for aqueous sodium sulfite solutions are also reported.