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Flow of CO2–ethanol and of CO2–methanol in a non-adiabatic microfluidic T-junction at high pressures

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Abstract

In this work, an experimental investigation of the single- and multiphase flows of two sets of fluids, CO2–ethanol and CO2–methanol, in a non-adiabatic microfluidic T-junction is presented. The operating conditions ranged from 7 to 18 MPa, and from 294 to 474 K. The feed mass fraction of CO2 in the mixtures was 0.95 and 0.87, respectively. Under these operating conditions, CO2 was either in liquid, gas or supercritical state; and the mixtures experienced a miscible single phase or a vapour–liquid equilibrium (VLE), with two separated phases. Taylor, annular and wavy were the two-phase flow regimes obtained in the VLE region. In the single phase region, the observed flows were classified into standard single-phase flows, “pseudo” two-phase flows and local phenomena in the T-junction. Flow regime maps were generated, based on temperature and pressure conditions. Two-phase flow void fractions and several parameters of Taylor flow were analysed. They showed a clear dependency on temperature, but were mostly insensitive to pressure. A continuous accumulation of liquid, either in the CO2 channel or at the CO2-side wall after the T-junction, disturbed most of the experiments in VLE conditions by randomly generating liquid plugs. This phenomenon is analysed, and capillary and wetting effects due to local Marangoni stresses are suggested as possible causes.

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Abbreviations

C :

Correlation parameter (–)

G d :

Vaporized mass diffusion fraction (–)

N :

Number of liquid plugs (–)

P :

Pressure (MPa)

R :

Pixel resolution of images (pixel m−1)

T :

Temperature (K)

% v/v :

Volumetric fraction (–)

\(\Updelta {\rm px}\) :

Difference in pixel position between two frames (pixel)

d h :

Hydraulic diameter of the channel (m)

f :

Frequency (Hz)

fr:

Camera frame rate (Hz)

t :

Time (s)

u :

Velocity (m s−1)

x :

Mass fraction in liquid phase (–)

x o :

Mass fraction in mixture (–)

y :

Mass fraction in vapour phase (–)

ρ:

Density (kg m−3)

θ:

Elongation rate (–)

ɛ:

Void fraction (–)

bn:

Bubble nose

bub:

Bubble point

bt:

Bubble tail

dew:

Dew point

exp:

Experimental

hom:

Homogeneous

l:

Liquid phase

lp:

Liquid plug

o:

Syringe pump conditions

rel:

Relative

v:

Vapour phase

xio:

Xiong and Chung (2007)

CO2 :

Carbon dioxide

EtOH:

Ethanol

MeOH:

Methanol

VLE:

Vapour–liquid equilibrium

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Professor John R. Thome of the EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, for the valuable discussions. This study was financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology and FEDER under project DPI2010-17212. R. B. acknowledges the financial support by the Spanish Ministry of Education through the mobility grants programme for PhD students.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rovira i Virgili University, Campus Sescelades, 43007, Tarragona, Spain

    R. Blanch-Ojea, J. Pallares & F. X. Grau

  2. Mesoscale Chemical Systems, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, University of Twente, P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE , Enschede, The Netherlands

    R. M. Tiggelaar & J. G. E. Gardeniers

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  1. R. Blanch-Ojea
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  2. R. M. Tiggelaar
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  3. J. Pallares
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Correspondence to R. Blanch-Ojea.

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Blanch-Ojea, R., Tiggelaar, R.M., Pallares, J. et al. Flow of CO2–ethanol and of CO2–methanol in a non-adiabatic microfluidic T-junction at high pressures. Microfluid Nanofluid 12, 927–940 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-011-0927-x

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