Dispersion phenomena in helical flow in a concentric annulus

Abstract

We examined dispersion phenomena of solutes in helical flow in a concentric annulus through a multiscale approach. The helical flow was developed by the combination of the Poiseuille flow and Couette flow. Here, we present an analytic model that can address the multidimensional Taylor dispersion in the helical flow under a lateral field of thermophoresis (or thermal diffusion) in the gapwise direction. Macroscopic parameters including the average solute velocity and dispersivity were analyzed using relevant microscopic physicochemical properties. The mathematically obtained results were validated by the numerical simulation carried out in this study. The findings show that macrotransport processes are robust and straightforward to handle multidimensional dispersion phenomena of solutes in helical flow. This study is expected to provide a theoretical platform for applications of helical flow such as tube exchangers, oil drilling, and multidimensional field flow fractionations (e.g., helical flow field flow fractionation).