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Experimental characterization of axial dispersion in coiled flow inverters

Rossi, D; Gargiulo, L; Valitov, G; Gavriilidis, A; Mazzei, L; (2017) Experimental characterization of axial dispersion in coiled flow inverters. Chemical Engineering Research and Design , 120 pp. 159-170. 10.1016/j.cherd.2017.02.011. Green open access

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Abstract

Narrow residence time distributions (RTDs) are desirable in many chemical engineering processes. However, when a system operates in the laminar flow regime, significant fluid dynamic dispersion takes place. This problem is often encountered in micro and millifluidic devices. Exploiting the beneficial effects of secondary flow and chaotic advection, so-called coiled flow inverters (CFIs) are a promising solution for the reduction of fluid dynamic dispersion. These devices, however, have not been extensively used due to the lack of experimental data and of correlations relating the design parameters and operating conditions to the amount of axial dispersion. In this work, we investigated RTDs in micro and millifluidic devices using step input injection and UV–vis inline spectroscopy for the detection of the concentration of a tracer. Experiments were performed for different operating conditions and geometries. Helically coiled tubes (HCTs) were similarly characterized. Dispersion data were expressed in terms of an axial dispersion coefficient and an empirical correlation was derived. The experimental results show that lower axial dispersion is achieved in CFIs as compared to HCTs and straight tubes.

Type: Article
Title: Experimental characterization of axial dispersion in coiled flow inverters
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.cherd.2017.02.011
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2017.02.011
Language: English
Additional information: © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Institution of Chemical Engineers. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: Coiled flow inverters, Helically coiled tubes, Axial dispersion, Residence time distribution, Microfluidics
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Chemical Engineering
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1544021
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