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Tomography images to analyze the deformation of the cavern in the continuous‐flow mixing of non‐Newtonian fluids
Author(s) -
Patel Dineshkumar,
EinMozaffari Farhad,
Mehrvar Mehrab
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.14235
Subject(s) - mixing (physics) , impeller , rheology , flow (mathematics) , mechanics , flow visualization , newtonian fluid , volumetric flow rate , non newtonian fluid , materials science , viscosity , volume (thermodynamics) , mechanical engineering , thermodynamics , engineering , composite material , physics , quantum mechanics
Tomography, an efficient nonintrusive technique, was employed to visualize the flow in continuous‐flow mixing and to measure the cavern volume (V c ) in batch mixing. This study has demonstrated an efficient method for flow visualization in the continuous‐flow mixing of opaque fluids using two‐dimensional (2‐D) and 3‐D tomograms. The main objective of this study was to explore the effects of four inlet‐outlet configurations, fluid rheology (0.5–1.5% xanthan gum concentration), high‐velocity jet (0.317–1.660 m s −1 ), and feed flow rate (5.3 × 10 −5 −2.36 × 10 −4 m 3 s −1 ) on the deformation of the cavern. Dynamic tests were also performed to estimate the fully mixed volume (V fully mixed ) for the RT, A310, and 3AM impellers in a continuous‐flow mixing system, and it was found that V fully mixed was greater than V c . Incorporating the findings of this study into the design criteria will minimize the extent of nonideal flows in the continuous‐flow mixing of complex fluids and eventually improve the quality of end‐products. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J , 60: 315–331, 2014