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Effect of Non-Newtonian Fluid on Mixing Quality and Pressure Drop in Several Static Mixers: A Numerical Study

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Abstract

This work investigates creeping flow of non-Newtonian power law fluids in four types of static mixers: INLINER SERIES 45, KOMAX, SMX_M, and SMX_N. INLINER SERIES 45 and KOMAX are two well-known static mixers. SMX_M is a modified standard SMX with fewer bars, and SMX_N is a proposed mixer with four blades and a 135° crossing angle between bars. A solver is developed in OpenFOAM CFD toolbox to obtain the results. In this work, the species transport equation is used to simulate fluid mixing. For each static mixer type, the effect of non-Newtonian behavior on pressure drop and mixing efficiency is investigated. In these four types of static mixers, the KG and KL constant coefficients required to calculate the effective viscosity and pressure drop of a power law fluid are computed. These mixers are also compared to determine which one is the most efficient. When compared to the other three mixers in creeping flow, SMX_N has a higher mixing quality for a fixed pressure drop, making it the most efficient. In this mixer, a breaking wave-like structure appears which improves mixing. SMX_M has the highest degree of homogeneity, but it has a higher pressure drop than SMX_N. On the other hand, INLINER SERIES 45 and KOMAX have regions with lower mixing quality near the pipe wall. In the creeping flow, Reynolds number has no significant effect on COV values. However, at moderate Reynolds numbers, increasing the Reynolds number reduces the COV values. Furthermore, COV reduction of KOMAX and SMX_M is greater than that of INLINER SERIES 45 and SMX_N.

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Data Availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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  1. Department of Food Technology, College of Aburaihan, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Saied Moghaddam

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Moghaddam, S. Effect of Non-Newtonian Fluid on Mixing Quality and Pressure Drop in Several Static Mixers: A Numerical Study. Iran J Sci Technol Trans Mech Eng 47, 1585–1597 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40997-023-00621-5

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