A study of fluid dispersion in oscillatory flow through a baffled tube

Abstract

AbstractPrevious studies show that axial dispersion in steady laminar flow can be substantially reduced by superimposing fluid oscillation in a baffled tube. In this paper, experimental observations on fluid dispersion for oscillatory flow in a baffled tube are obtained in a series of concentration measurements using high spatial resolution local conductivity probes, and two models—the continuous stirred tank (CST) with feedback and the plug flow with axial dispersion—are used to analyse the concentration curves and determine the fluid dispersion for such a system. The CST with feedback model combines the algorithms from Mecklenburgh and Hartland with the evaluations of unbiased moments from Anderssen and White to determine the dimensionless dispersion coefficient, D/uL, and the backmixing coefficient, F. The plug flow with axial dispersion model, on the other hand, utilises the axial diffusion model by replacing the molecular diffusion coefficient to the axial dispersion coefficient. This model uses an upstream concentration measurement together with an imperfect pulse technique to predict a downstream concentration profile, and thereby determine a best fit value for the dispersion coefficient D/uL. The axial dispersion results show that there is generally more dispersion predicted using the plug flow with axial dispersion model than when using the CST with feedback model for all the oscillatory Reynolds numbers and Strouhal numbers tested. The difference in the calculated D/uL between the two models is discussed.