Options
CFD analysis of asymmetric mixing at different inlet configurations of a split-and-recombine micro mixer
Citation Link: https://doi.org/10.15480/882.3902
Publikationstyp
Journal Article
Publikationsdatum
2021-07-01
Sprache
English
Institut
TORE-URI
Enthalten in
Volume
11
Issue
3
Start Page
599
End Page
609
Citation
Journal of Flow Chemistry 11 (3): 599-609 (2021)
Publisher DOI
Scopus ID
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
In the scope of the ENPRO II initiative (Energy Efficiency and Process Intensification for the Chemical Industry), a major challenge of process intensification of polymer synthesis in continuous systems is fouling. Pre-mixing is a key aspect to prevent fouling and is achieved through milli and micro structured devices (Bayer et al. 1). While equal volume flow ratios are well investigated in milli and micro systems, asymmetric mixing tasks have received less attention. This paper investigates the dependency of mixing phenomena on different flow rate ratios and modified inlet geometries. A split-and-recombine (SAR) mixer is modified by means of an injection capillary to facilitate the asymmetric mixing task. Asymmetric volume flows of ratios between 1:15 and 1:60 are investigated; the velocity ratios range from 0.5 to 2. The setup is simulated with the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool ANSYS®; Fluent. The species equation is solved directly without the use of micro mixing models. The simulation is validated by means of a concentration field in a mixing Tee using Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF) with a Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope (CLSM). The three dimensional flow structures and the mixing quality are analyzed as a measure for micro mixing. The calculated concentration fields show good agreement with the experimental results and reveal the secondary flow structures and chaotic advection within the channel. The injection of the small feed stream is found to be very efficient when drawn into the secondary structures, increasing the potential of diffusive mixing. CFD simulations help to understand and locate such structures and improve the mixing performance.
DDC Class
540: Chemie
Funding Organisations
More Funding Information
This project is supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy on the basis of a decision by the German Bundestag.
Publication version
publishedVersion
Loading...
Name
Frey2021_Article_CFDAnalysisOfAsymmetricMixingA.pdf
Size
1.45 MB
Format
Adobe PDF