CFD modeling of turbulent reacting flow in a semi-batch stirred-tank reactor

For the mixing-sensitive reactions, both chemical kinetics and mixing conditions of the reactants determine the distributions of products. The direct quadrature method of moments combining with the interaction by exchange with the mean micro-mixing model(DQMOM-IEM) has been validated for the chemical reacting flows in microreactors. Quite encouraging simulation results offer great promise, but the applicability of this method is needed to be explored furthermore, such as in stirred reactors. In this work, the two-environment DQMOM-IEM model was created with C language and used to customize Fluent through the user-defined functions. The mixing effects on the course of parallel competing chemical reactions carried out in a semi-batch single-phase stirred reactor were predicted. The simulation results show that the rising feed velocity enlarges the volume of reaction zone and maximize the yield of the by-product, which also indicates that the feed stream is more difficultly dispersed into the main stream and the zone surrounding feedpipe exit with high turbulent kinetic dissipation rate cannot be efficiently used.

A Markov chain model of mixing kinetics for ternary mixture of dissimilar particulate solids

This paper presents a simple but informative mathematical model to describe the mixing of three dissimilar components of particulate solids that have the tendency to segregate within one another. A nonlinear Markov chain model is proposed to describe the process. At each time step, the exchange of particulate solids between the cells of the chain is divided into two virtual stages. The first is pure stochastic mixing accompanied by downward segregation. Upon the completion of this stage, some of the cells appear to be overfilled with the mixture, while others appear to have a void space. The second stage is related to upward segregation. Components from the overfilled cells fill the upper cells （those with the void space） according to the proposed algorithm. The degree of non-homogeneity in the mixture （the standard deviation） is calculated at each time step, which allows the mixing kinetics to be described. The optimum mixing time is found to provide the maximum homogeneity in the ternary mixture. However, this “common” time differs from the optimum mixing times for individual components. The model is verified using a lab-scale vibration vessel, and a reasonable correlation between the calculated and experimental data is obtained

Theoretical search for solutions to minimize negative influence of segregation in mixing of particulate solids

The objective of this study is to examine several optimization problems in the batch mixing of segregating particulate solids that can be set up and solved using Markov chain models. To improve the adequacy of such models and exclude some physical contradictions that arise in the linear form, a non-linear Markov chain model for the mixing of segregating components is proposed. Optimal solutions are obtained by controlling the particle flow outside the mixing operating volume while the components are being loaded, modifying particle circulation inside the mixing zone during the process, and by structuring the load in the mixing zone. Solutions are found that not only reduce the negative influence of segregation, but also exclude it altogether. The gain resulting from optimization grows with the rate of segregation. The optimal solutions presented here can be used to improve the design of mixers.