TY - GEN
T1 - CFD simulations of gas and liquid slugs for taylor flow in a microchannel
AU - Qian, Dongying
AU - Lawal, Adeniyi
PY - 2005
Y1 - 2005
N2 - The rapid development of microfabrication techniques creates new opportunities for applications of microchannel reactor technology in chemical reaction engineering. The extremely large volume-to-surface ratio and the short transport path in microchannels enhance heat and mass transfer dramatically and hence provide many potential opportunities in chemical process development and intensification. Multiphase reactions involving gas/liquid reactants with a solid as a catalyst are ubiquitous in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, and the hydrodynamics play a prominent role in reactor design and performance. For gas/liquid two-phase flow in a microchannel, the Taylor slug flow regime is the most commonly encountered flow pattern, therefore the present study deals with the numerical simulation of gas and liquid slugs in a microchannel. A T-junction microchannel (empty or packed) with varying cross-sectional width (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 2 and 3 mm) served as the model micro-reactor, and a finite volume based commercial CFD package, FLUENT, was adopted for the numerical simulation. The gas and liquid slug lengths at various operating conditions were obtained and found to be in good agreement with the literature data.
AB - The rapid development of microfabrication techniques creates new opportunities for applications of microchannel reactor technology in chemical reaction engineering. The extremely large volume-to-surface ratio and the short transport path in microchannels enhance heat and mass transfer dramatically and hence provide many potential opportunities in chemical process development and intensification. Multiphase reactions involving gas/liquid reactants with a solid as a catalyst are ubiquitous in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, and the hydrodynamics play a prominent role in reactor design and performance. For gas/liquid two-phase flow in a microchannel, the Taylor slug flow regime is the most commonly encountered flow pattern, therefore the present study deals with the numerical simulation of gas and liquid slugs in a microchannel. A T-junction microchannel (empty or packed) with varying cross-sectional width (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 2 and 3 mm) served as the model micro-reactor, and a finite volume based commercial CFD package, FLUENT, was adopted for the numerical simulation. The gas and liquid slug lengths at various operating conditions were obtained and found to be in good agreement with the literature data.
KW - Liquid and gas slugs
KW - Microchannel
KW - Numerical simulation
KW - Taylor flow
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=27744463722&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=27744463722&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1115/icmm2005-75159
DO - 10.1115/icmm2005-75159
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:27744463722
SN - 0791841855
SN - 9780791841853
T3 - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Microchannels and Minichannels, 2005
SP - 671
EP - 678
BT - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Microchannels and Minichannels, 2005
T2 - 3rd International Conference on Microchannels and Minichannels, ICMM2005
Y2 - 13 June 2005 through 15 June 2005
ER -