Long-wave instability of a plane multicomponent mixture layer with the Soret effect

Long-wave instability that arises in a plane multicomponent mixture layer with the Soret effect is investigated. The layer is heated from above or below in the gravity field. The solution of the linearized equations of motion is sought in the form of a series in powers of the wave number assumed to be small. For the mixture with an arbitrary number of components the critical parameters of instability are determined. For binary and ternary mixtures the stability maps are plotted. The regions where the long- and short wave perturbations are the most dangerous are distinguished in the space of physical parameters. The analytical results are compared with the numerical solution of the linearized equations over a wide wave number range. As an example, instability in a ternary hydrocarbon mixture is considered.