Mixing Characteristics of Motionless Mixers

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Yang, H. C.

Affiliations: School of Mechanical and Automotive Eng., Chonnam National University, 96-1 Dunduck-dong, Yeosu, Chonnam 550-747, Korea. E-mail: hcyang@chonnam.ac.kr

Abstract: Motionless mixers have found a large range of applications, including blending, reaction, dispersion, heat transfer and mass transfer. Understanding the mixing processes that occur in these diverse systems is essential for predicting many aspects of practical importance. The objective of this study is to perform the experimental investigations of mixing characteristics for three different motionless mixers. The red color dye tracer was mixed in the main stream of green hair styling gel, and then the mixing efficiency was quantified by calculating the percentage area concentration of red color at the outlet cross section using a digital image processing technique. In the Sulzer SMX and YHC mixer, a single element mixes the fluid nearly in two dimensions, and three-dimensional mixing is accomplished by the next elements aligned at 90° to their former one. In the Sulzer SMX mixer, the flow appears to be globally well mixed after 5 elements, while in the YHC and YNU mixers, it is necessary to globally well mix more than 1 and 2 elements.

Keywords: Motionless Mixer, Mixing Element, Mixing Characteristics, Visualization, Digital Image Processing Technique

Journal: Journal of Visualization, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 83-89, 2007