Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/9449
Title: Co-current horizontal flow of a Newtonian and a non-Newtonian fluid in a microchannel
Authors: Roumpea, EP
Passos, AD
Mouza, AA
Paras, SV
4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014)
Keywords: Two phase flow;Microchannels;Non-Newtonian;Slug flow
Issue Date: 2014
Publisher: Brunel University London
Citation: 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference, University College London, UK, 7-10 September 2014, Editors CS König, TG Karayiannis and S. Balabani
Series/Report no.: ID 213
Abstract: In this work, the flow of two immiscible liquids in a glass microchannel, I.D.= 580μm, was exper-imentally investigated. Various aqueous glycerol solutions containing xanthan gum were the non-Newtonian fluids, while kerosene was the Newtonian one. The flow rate of the non-Newtonian fluids varied from 50 to 200μL/min, while the kerosene flow rate was kept constant. The two fluids were put in contact at a T-junction. Visual observations were made using a high speed CCD camera and data were collected by processing the corresponding video images. The flow pattern was slug flow irrespective of the fluid that initially filled the microchannel. The experimental results revealed that the length of the kerosene slugs decreases by increasing either the aqueous phase flow rate or its viscosity. Furthermore the non-Newtonian fluid results in smaller and more frequent slugs than the corresponding Newtonian one. Thus by rendering a fluid non-Newtonian the interfacial area increases and consequently the mass transport performance is enhanced. This observation is expected to aid to the optimal design of two-phase microreactors. More work is certainly needed to investigate the effect of all the design parameters on the characteristics of this kind of flow in microchannels.
Description: This paper was presented at the 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014), which was held at University College, London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute, ASME Press, LCN London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL University College London, UCL Engineering, the International NanoScience Community, www.nanopaprika.eu.
URI: http://bura.brunel.ac.uk/handle/2438/9449
ISBN: 978-1-908549-16-7
Appears in Collections:Brunel Institute for Bioengineering (BIB)
The Brunel Collection

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