Modelling migration in multilayer systems by a finite difference method: the spherical symmetry case

We present a numerical model based on finite differences to solve the problem of chemical impurity migration within a multilayer spherical system. Migration here means diffusion of chemical species in conditions of concentration partitioning at layer interfaces due to different solubilities of the migrant in different layers. We detail here the numerical model and discuss the results of its implementation. To validate the method we compare it with cases where an analytic solution exists. We also present an application of our model to a practical problem in which we compute the migration of caprolactam from the packaging multilayer foil into the food