Numerical study on the hydrodynamics behavior of a central insert microchannel

doi:10.1016/j.cjche.2022.01.019

中国化学工程学报 ›› 2023, Vol. 53 ›› Issue (1): 361-373.DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2022.01.019

• Full Length Article • 上一篇下一篇

Numerical study on the hydrodynamics behavior of a central insert microchannel

Yongbo Zhou, Yang Jin, Jun Li, Qinyan Wang, Ming Chen

Engineering Research Center of Comprehensive Utilization and Clean Processing of Phosphorus Resources, School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China

收稿日期:2021-09-12 修回日期:2022-01-17 出版日期:2023-01-28 发布日期:2023-04-08
通讯作者: Yang Jin,E-mail:jinyangyoung@scu.edu.cn
基金资助:
The research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21776180, 22108177), and the Key Research Development Project of Sichuan Province (21ZDYF4086).

Numerical study on the hydrodynamics behavior of a central insert microchannel

Yongbo Zhou, Yang Jin, Jun Li, Qinyan Wang, Ming Chen

Engineering Research Center of Comprehensive Utilization and Clean Processing of Phosphorus Resources, School of Chemical Engineering, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610065, China

Received:2021-09-12 Revised:2022-01-17 Online:2023-01-28 Published:2023-04-08
Contact: Yang Jin,E-mail:jinyangyoung@scu.edu.cn
Supported by:
The research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21776180, 22108177), and the Key Research Development Project of Sichuan Province (21ZDYF4086).

摘要/Abstract

摘要： In this work, the computational fluid dynamics method is used to study the liquid hydrodynamics behavior in the microchannel without central insert (MC1) and the central insert microchannel (MC2), respectively. The maximum deviation between simulation and experiment is 24%. The formations of flow patterns are explained based on contours and force analysis where the flow pattern maps are established by two-phase flow rate. The effects of aqueous phase viscosity and two-phase flow rate on the characteristic sizes of each flow pattern are also explored. Specifically, four unconventional flow patterns are found in MC2, namely the unique droplet flow, the unique slug flow, the unique coarse annular flow and the unique film annular flow. Though the insert occupies part of the channel, the pressure difference in the channel is significantly reduced compared with MC1. Moreover, the insert significantly changes the formation velocity range of each flow pattern, greatly broadens the formation range of annular flow and also has an important influence on the characteristic size of the flow pattern. The organic-phase dimensionless axial size (L_o/W) and the dimensionless radial size (D_o/W) of the droplet (slug) are negatively related to the aqueous-phase viscosity (μ_a) and flow rate (u_a). The D_o/W of the annular is negatively correlated with μ_a and positively correlated with organic-phase flow rate (u_o). This study provides direct numerical evidence that the insert is key to the formation of bicontinuous phase flow pattern, as well as further strengthens our understanding of the flow characteristics and optimization design of insert microchannels.

关键词: Microchannel, Process intensification, Computational fluid dynamics, Liquid–liquid flow pattern, Central insert

Abstract: In this work, the computational fluid dynamics method is used to study the liquid hydrodynamics behavior in the microchannel without central insert (MC1) and the central insert microchannel (MC2), respectively. The maximum deviation between simulation and experiment is 24%. The formations of flow patterns are explained based on contours and force analysis where the flow pattern maps are established by two-phase flow rate. The effects of aqueous phase viscosity and two-phase flow rate on the characteristic sizes of each flow pattern are also explored. Specifically, four unconventional flow patterns are found in MC2, namely the unique droplet flow, the unique slug flow, the unique coarse annular flow and the unique film annular flow. Though the insert occupies part of the channel, the pressure difference in the channel is significantly reduced compared with MC1. Moreover, the insert significantly changes the formation velocity range of each flow pattern, greatly broadens the formation range of annular flow and also has an important influence on the characteristic size of the flow pattern. The organic-phase dimensionless axial size (L_o/W) and the dimensionless radial size (D_o/W) of the droplet (slug) are negatively related to the aqueous-phase viscosity (μ_a) and flow rate (u_a). The D_o/W of the annular is negatively correlated with μ_a and positively correlated with organic-phase flow rate (u_o). This study provides direct numerical evidence that the insert is key to the formation of bicontinuous phase flow pattern, as well as further strengthens our understanding of the flow characteristics and optimization design of insert microchannels.

Key words: Microchannel, Process intensification, Computational fluid dynamics, Liquid–liquid flow pattern, Central insert

Yongbo Zhou, Yang Jin, Jun Li, Qinyan Wang, Ming Chen. Numerical study on the hydrodynamics behavior of a central insert microchannel[J]. 中国化学工程学报, 2023, 53(1): 361-373.

Yongbo Zhou, Yang Jin, Jun Li, Qinyan Wang, Ming Chen. Numerical study on the hydrodynamics behavior of a central insert microchannel[J]. Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering, 2023, 53(1): 361-373.

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Numerical study on the hydrodynamics behavior of a central insert microchannel

Numerical study on the hydrodynamics behavior of a central insert microchannel

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