| The present work concerns the development of a new static mixing device, the NETMIXRTM static mixer, including its modelling, CFD, Computational Fluid Dynamics, simulation and experimental characterisation.;A mixing and chemical reaction model, the NETMIXRTM model, using a combined network model and network-of-zones model formulation, is first introduced as a macromixing and micromixing and chemical reaction model. The NETMIXRTM model allows the calculation of the yields and selectvities of different reaction schemes on different network structures, and therefore can be used to design network structure based static mixers.;The commercial CFD code FLUENT (TM) 6.1 is used to simulate the flow field in a network structure such as the NETMIXRTM model, in the range of Reynolds numbers Re = 50 to Re = 700. From the CFD simulations, the existence of two flow field regimes is observed. The Reynolds number marking the flow regime transition is denoted as the critical Reynolds number. The studied network structure presents, above a certain Reynolds number, strong flow field dynamics that promotes mixing with high energetic efficiency.;A NETMIXRTM pilot unit was designed and built. The core of the unit is a network structure based on the NETMIXRTM model, the NETMIXRTM static mixer. Pressure drop experiments and imaging experiments are presented for the NETMIXRTM static mixer between Re = 25 and Re = 700. CFD simulations are validated through comparison of the computed pressure drop with the NETMIXRTM static mixer experimental pressure drop. A consecutive competitive reaction system is used as test reaction to study the mixing efficiency of the NETMIXRTM static mixer in the range of Reynolds numbers Re = 50 to Re = 700.;From the imaging experiments and the chemical reaction experiments, the NETMIXRTM model is ultimately validated as a macromixing and micromixing and chemical reaction descriptive model for the NETMIXRTM static mixer, under the appropriate conditions. |
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