Comparative assessment of mixing in compact coiled flow inverters under diffusion free laminar flow condition

Abstract

Mixing characteristics in two innovative variants of coiled flow inverter, namely, symmetrical compact coiled flow inverter (SCCFI) and asymmetrical compact coiled flow inverter (ACCFI) are assessed against that of standard coiled flow inverter (CFI), through experimental and numerical analysis conducted under diffusion-free laminar flow condition (2.35≤NDe≤11.5;7.55≤NRe≤36.96). The experimental study involves the comparison of step input residence time distribution (RTD) curves to examine (i) the narrowing effects with the increase in Dean number until a unique RTD is achieved, and (ii) the effect of bends on narrowing of RTD. Results show that maximum narrowing of RTD is achieved in SCCFI, followed by ACCFI and standard CFI, and the unique RTDs obtained comply with the narrowing trends: SCCFI at NDe=5.3, ACCFI at NDe=3.5 and standard CFI at NDe=3. The experimental trends are interpreted through an elaborate CFD analysis that predicts the secondary flow features as well as RTD curves. The CFD results show Dean vortices and flow inversion intensifying with Dean number that explains the narrowing effect with the increase in Dean number. RTDs obtained at intermediate bends in all the geometries, show the sequential narrowing with increasing number of bends, thus establishing the beneficial role of complete flow inversion on radial mixing.