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A computational study on mixing of two-phase flow in microchannels

  • Iowa State University

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

The passive mixing of water and alcohol, as two fluids with different densities, is carried out computationally in three-dimensional microchannels. Four designs of microchannels are considered to investigate the efficiency of mixing for Reynolds numbers ranging between 6 and 96. In a straight-type microchannel, mixing is very poor. In a square-wave-type microchannel, mixing is marginally better than the straight one. Mixing in the serpentine-type and twisted-type microchannels develops considerably better than the first two microchannels, especially at higher Reynolds numbers. However, in the twisted microchannel, the mixing index is substantially larger compared to the serpentine microchannel for the Reynolds number of 35. The higher mixing index implies the occurrence of spatially chaotic flows with a higher degree of chaos compared to the case of the serpentine microchannel. The results are compared quantitatively and qualitatively in Eulerian and Lagrangian frameworks and a correlation between Lagrangian chaos and Eulerian chaos is concluded.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)101-109
Number of pages9
JournalAmerican Society of Mechanical Engineers, Fluids Engineering Division (Publication) FEDSM
Volume259
DOIs
StatePublished - 2003
Event2003 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress - Washington, DC, United States
Duration: Nov 15 2003Nov 21 2003

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