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Mixing Characteristics (mixing + characteristic)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Chemistry	80%

Selected Abstracts

Review on Mixing Characteristics in Solid-Liquid and Solid-Liquid-Gas Reactor Vessels

THE CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 4 2005
Gopal R. Kasat
Abstract Mechanically agitated reactors with single and multiple impeller systems are used in the industry for the various three-phase mixing processes such as crystallization, fermentation, and hydrogenation, etc. The paper reviews the experimental work reported in the literature along with different techniques used for the measurement of the specific quantities such as minimum or critical impeller speed for solid suspension. The work critically surveys the literature and makes specific recommendations for the use of appropriate correlations and conditions to be used for the success of such equipment. This assessment will put all the relevant literature on a common footing and will help to validate work reported earlier. Les réacteurs agités mécaniquement munis d'une seule turbine et de turbines multiples sont utilisés dans l'industrie pour divers procédés de mélange triphasiques, tels que la cristallisation, la fermentation, l'hydrogénation, etc. On examine dans cet article les travaux expérimentaux présentés dans la littérature scientifique ainsi que les différentes techniques utilisées pour la mesure de quantités spécifiques, telle la vitesse de turbine minimale ou critique pour la suspension de solides. On effectue une étude critique de la littérature scientifique et on propose des recommandations pour le choix de corrélations et conditions appropriées pour une bonne utilisation de cet équipement. Cette évaluation mettra toutes les publications pertinentes à un même niveau et aidera à valider le travail présenté antérieurement. [source]

A Comparison of the Mixing Characteristics in Single- and Two-Phase Grid-Generated Turbulent Flow Systems

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY (CET), Issue 6 2004
J.S. Moghaddas
Abstract The mixing process is studied in grid-generated turbulent flow for single- and bubbly two-phase flow systems. Concentration and mixing characteristics in the liquid phase are measured with the aid of a PLIF/PLIF arrangement. A nearly isotropic turbulent flow field is generated at the center of the vertical pipe by using a honeycomb, three grids and a contraction. In two-phase flow experiments, air bubbles were injected into the flow from a rectangular grid, with mesh size M = 6 mm, which is placed midway between two circular grids each with a mesh size of M = 2 mm. For single-phase flow, the normalized mean concentration cross-stream profiles have rather similar Gaussian shapes, and the cross-stream profiles of the normalized root-mean-square (RMS) values of concentration were found to be quite similar. Cross-stream profiles of the mean concentration, for bubbly two-phase flow, were also found to be quite similar, but they did not have the Gaussian shape of the profiles for single-phase flow. Almost self-similar behavior was also found for the RMS values of the concentration in two-phase systems. The turbulent diffusion coefficient in the liquid phase was also calculated. At the center of the plume, the flow was found to have a periodic coherent structure, probably of vortex shedding character. Observations showed that the period of oscillation is higher in the case of two-phase flow than in single-phase flow. [source]

Using a 1-D mixing model to assess the potential impact of year-to-year changes in weather on the habitat of vendace (Coregonus albula) in Bassenthwaite Lake, Cumbria

FRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 8 2006
D. G. GEORGE
Summary 1. Bassenthwaite Lake in Cumbria is one of only two English lakes containing a population of vendace (Coregonus albula). The spatial distribution and survival of this fish is strongly influenced by the temperature and oxygen content of the water. In summer, this fish moves into deeper, colder water but avoids areas where the oxygen content is low. 2. In recent years, there has been a dramatic decline in the number of vendace found in the lake, a trend that may have been exacerbated by a succession of warm summers. Bassenthwaite only becomes stably stratified during calm, warm periods when a significant proportion of the deep water becomes anoxic. 3. Here, a one dimensional (1-D) process-based temperature-oxygen model is used to simulate the year-to-year variations in the severity of these ,extreme events'. The model is validated using field measurements acquired in the 1990s and used to predict the range of depths accessible to the vendace. 4. An empirical, weather-driven model is then used to ,hindcast' the mixing characteristics of the lake in the 1980s and estimate the proportion of the habitat lost during warm, calm summers. These simulations show that periods of stable thermal stratification have become increasingly common in recent years. In the 1980s, only one ,extreme event' was identified but four such events were recorded in the 1990s. 5. The results are discussed in relation to the conservation status of the species and the potential effect of climate change on its survival in the English Lake District. [source]

Hydrodynamic behaviour of a full-scale anaerobic contact reactor using residence time distribution technique

JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 5 2009
Isabel Capela
Abstract BACKGROUND: The knowledge of the fluid pattern of full-scale anaerobic reactors is of fundamental importance for the optimisation of biological processes. High solids concentrations often lead to inefficient mixing conditions, which may reduce treatment capacity due to heterogeneity within the biomass. RESULTS: The hydrodynamic characteristics of a full-scale anaerobic contact reactor treating evaporator condensate from a sulphite pulp mill were investigated. The methodology applied was based on the residence time distribution (RTD) technique using lithium as a tracer. Different non-ideal hydraulic flow models were tested and the best model fitting RTD data was the Gamma distribution model with by-pass. It was concluded that the full-scale bioreactor presents a good degree of mixing with about 22% of non-effective volume due to the presence of high amounts of inorganic materials. CONCLUSION: As a result of this study it was possible to both improve the full-scale bioreactor performance and decrease the running costs by changes in the plant operation strategies which allowed reduction of the huge amount of inorganic materials contributing to the non-effective volume. The methodology is simple and results from a unique RTD experiment and confirms the importance of considering mixing characteristics when assessing complex full-scale treatment processes. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry [source]

Flow and mass transfer of fully resolved bubbles in non-Newtonian fluids

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 7 2007
Stefan Radl
Abstract In this work, high-resolution 2-D numerical simulations were performed on the motion of deformable bubbles in non-Newtonian fluids and the associated mass transfer. For that purpose, we have implemented a semi-Lagrangian advection scheme and improved the fluid dynamic calculation by the usage of implicit algorithms. Non-Newtonian fluids are described by generalized Newtonian as well as viscoelastic model fluids. As shear-thinning model we use a Power-Law and a Carreau-Yasuda model, the viscoelastic fluid simulations are based on an Upper-Convected Maxwell model combined with a recently introduced model for the evolution of the effective shear rate. The mathematical challenges arising from the hyperbolic nature of the resulting set of equations are addressed by inclusion of artificial diffusion in the stress equation. In our work, it was found that shear thinning effects have impact on collision rates, and therefore, may influence coalescence of bubbles in non-Newtonian liquids. Furthermore, for the first time, concentration fields of dissolved gas in viscoelastic fluids are presented. The study shows that the fluid elasticity plays a major role for bubble rise velocity, and therefore, mass transfer. As the wake dynamics differ significantly from that in Newtonian liquids, abnormal mixing characteristics can be expected in the bubbly flow of viscoelastic fluids. © 2007 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2007 [source]

Four-wave mixing characteristics in SOAs with optimum time-delays between pump and probe pulses

MICROWAVE AND OPTICAL TECHNOLOGY LETTERS, Issue 5 2007
Narottam Kumar Das
Abstract We have analyzed the four-wave mixing (FWM) characteristics in semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOAs) with optimum time-delays between pump and probe pulses by the finite-difference beam propagation method. This study is very important to achieve the high FWM conversion efficiency and to clarify the timing jitter. From the simulations, we have clarified that the FWM conversion efficiency increases with optimum time-delays between pump and probe pulses in SOA for short optical pulses. In the experiment, we have found the similar tendency. Therefore, we have obtained an excellent agreement between the simulation and experimental results of high FWM conversion efficiency in SOAs with optimum time-delays between pulses. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 49: 1182,1185, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.22389 [source]

Mathematical model for mixing index in gas,solid fluidized bed: an analysis

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 4 2010
Abanti Sahoo
Abstract An available theoretical model for mixing index in gas-solid fluidized bed has been analyzed for further modification and improvement. Assumption of 50% bed material moving in the upward direction and rest 50% in the downward direction considered for the above model (the counter-flow circulation model) has been analyzed for optimum result. A computer program was run for different bed conditions by varying operating parameters, namely, the mixture composition, fractions of bed materials, minimum fluidization velocity of the jetsam particles and that of the bed materials (i.e. mixture of the jetsam and the flotsam particles). The developed model was solved by finite difference (central differencing). Fraction of the bed material moving in the upward direction was varied from 0 to 100% and the minimum fluidization velocity was varied within the Umf of the flotsam to that of the jetsam particles (i.e. 0.465,1.0335 m/s). Optimum fraction of bed materials with respect to its distribution (as per the earlier proposed model) in the upward and downward streams during the fluidization process was found to be 20 and 80%, respectively. The modified model was validated by conducting experiments on fluidization and studying the mixing characteristics of regular homogeneous materials (sago) in a 15 × 100 cm cylindrical column. Fairly good agreement was observed between the values of mixing index obtained from the proposed modified model and the experimental observations. Copyright © 2009 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Membrane bioreactors: overview of the effects of module geometry on mixing energy

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 3 2009
Yuan Wang
Abstract Membranes used in municipal membrane bioreactor (MBR) plants can be configured as flat sheet (FS) membranes or hollow fibre (HF) membranes. The HFs can be mounted either horizontally or vertically. The membranes can be immersed in their own vessel or within the aerobic vessel. These various configurations combine to give a unique reactor design. Current methods of design assume the mixing characteristics (e.g. each reactor vessel is completely mixed); hence the energy necessary to achieve complete mixing cannot be optimised. This paper presents an overview of mixing studies undertaken by the authors' research group on pilot- and full-scale MBRs through residence time distribution (RTD) analysis and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modelling. The drawbacks of current technique for the sizing of MBRs (e.g. compartmental modelling) are highlighted. The use of CFD as a design tool to evaluate the mixing and energy of MBRs with different configurations (e.g. HF vs FS, inside submerged vs outside submerged) is presented. The MBR CFD model was validated using field-measured RTD data and compared with compartmental model. Results from mixing studies suggest that HF membranes are more energy efficient in terms of creating completely mixed conditions than the FS membranes. Copyright © 2009 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

CFD study of mixing characteristics of bubble column and external loop airlift reactor

ASIA-PACIFIC JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 2 2008
S. Roy
Abstract In the present work, a computational fluid dynamics study has been carried out to bring out the mixing characteristics of bubble column and external loop airlift reactor. A comparison of mixing time for two reactors has been presented on the basis of the same reactor volume as well as the total power input. The CFD model was validated by simulating flow, both in bubble column and external loop airlift reactor. An agreement was observed between the predicted and the experimental data available in the published literature. The validated CFD model has been extended for the simulation of the mixing time for both the reactors. The CFD predictions of mixing time show good agreement with the experimental values published in literature. A systematic numerical study was then carried out to bring out the mixing characteristics of both the reactors. Copyright © 2008 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]