Effects of gas concentration on hydrodynamics of gas absorption in a microchannel

In this article, the effects of gas concentration on hydrodynamics of gas–liquid two-phase flow with mass transfer during gas absorption in a microchannel are investigated, by using 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP) solution to absorb mixtures of CO₂ and N₂ with various volume fractions. The concentration of CO₂ not only affects the driving force of gas–liquid mass transfer, but also affects the pressure drop of gas–liquid two-phase flow. The average linear velocity of the liquid phase is estimated by introducing the void fraction, which accurately characterizes the difference in the bubble velocity versus the liquid velocity. On this basis, the pressure drop model of gas–liquid two-phase flow with mass transfer in a microchannel is established. Through the pressure drop model, the influence mechanism of CO₂ concentration on the pressure drop during gas absorption in a microchannel is revealed.     

周期性扩缩微通道内气液两相流型及其演变特性

以空气和水为实验工质,利用IDT高速摄像仪和Nikon生物显微镜组成的可视化系统对水平放置的PDMS周期性扩缩微通道内的气液两相流型及其演变特性进行实验研究。观察到的主要流型为间歇流和分离流。对于间歇流,气体以离散形式分布在液相中或者是液体以分散形式分布在气相中,而且气相分散跟液相分散交替存在。对于分离流,气体主要沿气体进口壁侧流动,液体主要沿液体进口壁侧流动。两相中存在明显的分界面,沿流动方向界面产生波动。通过改变气液两相表观流速,得到气液两相流型分布,进而提出间歇流与分离流流型转换的准则关系式。结果表明,同一液相表观流速下,三角凹穴型微通道间歇流向分离流转变所需的气相表观流速略小于扇形凹穴微通道。     

DEVELOPMENTS ON WETTING EFFECTS IN MICROFLUIDIC SLUG FLOW

Wetting effects form a dimension of fluid dynamics that becomes predominant, precisely controllable, and possibly useful at the micro-scale. Microfluidic multiphase flow patterns, including size, shape, and velocity of fluidic particles, and mass and heat transfer rates are affected by wetting properties of microchannel walls and surface tension forces between fluid phases. The novelty of this field, coupled to difficulties in experimental design and measurements, means that literature results are scarce and scientific understanding is incomplete. Numerical methods developed recently have enabled a shortcut in obtaining results that can be perceived as realistic and that offer insight otherwise not possible. In this work the effect of the contact angle on gas-liquid two-phase flow slug formation in a microchannel T-junction was studied by numerical simulation. The contact angle, varied from 0 to 140 degrees, influenced the interaction of the gas and liquid phases with the channel wall, affecting the shape, size, and velocity of the slugs. The visualisation of the cross-sectional area of gas slugs allowed insight into the existence of liquid flow along rectangular microchannel corners, which was affected by the contact angle and determined the occurrence of velocity slip. The velocity profile within the gas slugs was also found to change as a function of contact angle, with hydrophilic channels inducing greater internal circulation, compared to greater channel wall contact in the case of hydrophobic channels. These effects play a role in heat and mass transfer from channel walls and highlight the value of numeral simulation in microfluidic design. Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Journal of Chemical Engineering Communications to view the supplemental file.     

入口流速对间断微通道内流型演变及流量分配特性影响

微通道内气液两相流动规律是影响微通道换热器换热系数和流场温度均匀性的主要因素。以N2和H2O为工质，对间断、并联矩形微通道换热器内气液两相流型的起始、发展、稳定过程的演化以及并联通道内流量分配不均匀特性进行了数值模拟研究。结果表明，不同的进口Re对微通道内流型的演变过程和流动周期有重要影响，当进口Re为450时，气相工质在均流腔内以离散的散团状形态脉动扩散至微通道中，并联通道内气相工质从弹状流型态逐渐转变为泡状流型态；当进口Re增至为1600时，气相工质在均流腔内以较连续的椭圆状型态扩散至微通道中，并联通道内气相工质从环状流型态逐渐转变为泡状流型态。通道结构还将影响并联通道间的流量分配的均匀性，间断微腔的存在使微通道内工质质量流量分布均匀性提升38.7%，通过研究通道内压力分布规律，发现通道内静压的分布不均匀是导致两相工质从均流腔进入微通道时发生不均匀分配的重要原因。     

T形微通道中互不相溶两相流数值模拟

采用摄动有限体积（PFV）算法和水平集（level set）技术对T形微通道内互不相溶两相流动进行了数值模拟研究。考察了两相界面张力和微通道壁面润湿性对流动的影响,精确地捕捉到了油水两相流动的界面。对一些典型的T形微通道油水两相流动进行了数值计算,模拟结果和实验结果吻合较好。分析总结出了微通道内两相流动过程中的一些基本规律,为微通道内的液液两相流动实验设计和工业应用提供了新的数值预测手段。     

壁面润湿性对微通道内二氧化碳-水两相流流动及传质性能的影响

在1 mm×1 mm矩形截面下微通道内,以二氧化碳-水为工作流体,研究壁面润湿性和气液表观流速对气-液两相流型和气液传质的影响,并研究了气、液表观流速对弹状流流体力学性质的影响。在亲水微通道中观测到了泡状流、泡状-弹状流、弹状流;在疏水微通道中观测到了非对称弹状流、拉长的非对称弹状流、分层流。实验表明亲水微通道中弹状流区域下气泡长度大体上随气相表观流速的增大而增大,随液相表观流速的增大而减小;液弹长度大体上随气相表观流速的增大而减小,随液相表观流速的增大先增大后减小;液侧体积传质系数k_La均随气、液相表观流速的增大而增大,随通道壁面润湿性的增强而增大。     

Numerical study on gas and liquid slugs for Taylor flow in a T-junction microchannel

The rapid development of microfabrication techniques creates new opportunities for applications of microchannel reactor technology in chemical reaction engineering. The extremely large surface-to-volume ratio and the short transport path in microchannels enhance heat and mass transfer dramatically, and hence provide many potential opportunities in chemical process development and intensification. Multiphase reactions involving gas/liquid reactants with a solid as a catalyst are ubiquitous in chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The hydrodynamics of the flow affects the reactor performance significantly; therefore it plays a prominent role in reactor design. For gas/liquid two-phase flow in a microchannel, the Taylor slug flow regime is the most commonly encountered flow pattern. The present study deals with the numerical simulation of the Taylor flow in a microchannel, particularly on gas and liquid slugs. A T-junction empty microchannel with varying cross-sectional width (0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1, 2 and 3 mm) served as the model micro-reactor, and a finite volume based commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package, FLUENT, was adopted for the numerical simulation. The gas and liquid slug lengths at various operating and fluid conditions were obtained and found to be in good agreement with the literature data. Several correlations in the T-junction microchannel were developed based on the simulation results. The slug flows for other geometries and inlet conditions were also studied.     

微通道内伴有化学吸收气液两相流的空隙率与压力降

微通道内气液两相流空隙率与压力降对微反应器的热质传递性能有显著影响,是微反应器的重要设计参数。采用高速摄像仪和压力测量系统分别对矩形微通道内单乙醇胺水溶液化学吸收CO₂过程的空隙率和压力降进行了研究,考察了弹状流下气液两相流量与化学反应速率对空隙率及压力降的影响。结果表明:当液相流量一定时,微通道内空隙率和压力降均随着气相流量的增大而增大,空隙率随化学反应速率的增大而减小,压力降随化学反应速率的增大而增大;当气相流量一定时,随着液相流量和化学反应速率的上升,微通道内空隙率下降,而压力降上升。提出了微通道内伴有化学吸收的空隙率和压力降的半理论预测模型,模型平均误差分别为15.79%和11.12%,显示了良好的预测性能。     

壁面润湿性对蛇形微通道内两相流流动特性影响的格子Boltzmann模拟

在90°Y形汇流的矩形截面蛇形微通道内,采用格子Boltzmann方法对不同接触角的蛇形微通道内气液两相流动进行了数值计算。首先以空气和水为工作流体对气液两相流动进行模拟研究并通过实验进行验证。验证模型合理性后,根据模拟计算结果,以气液相流速为坐标绘制了不同接触角下的流型图并分析其差异性及原因;同时深入研究了液相黏度和接触角对于弹状流流体力学性质的综合影响;比较了具有不同接触角壁面的蛇形微通道内两相流压降、摩擦因子、壁面摩擦系数和剪切应力的分布规律,并讨论了蛇形微通道内气液两相流动的影响因素。研究表明疏水壁面即接触角大于90°时,微通道内两相流压降、摩擦因子、壁面摩擦系数和剪切应力均低于亲水壁面微通道内相关参数,更利于流体流动。     

并行微通道内气液相分配规律

微反应器的集成放大对于微化工技术的工业应用具有重要意义。利用高速摄像仪对4个并行微通道内气液两相流动状况及相分配规律进行了研究,考察了气液两相流量及液相黏度对两相分布均匀性的影响。实验所用液相为含0.3%表面活性剂十二烷基硫酸钠（SDS）的蒸馏水-甘油溶液,气相为氮气（N₂）。实验观察到了6种典型的两相流型。对各支通道均为弹状流情况下气泡长度和气泡速度的分布规律进行了研究。在一定气相流率下,各支通道气泡长度的相对标准偏差随液相流率的增大而增大,气泡速度的相对标准偏差值随液相流率的增大先升高到一定值然后逐渐减小。气相分配不均匀性随液相流率和黏度的增大而增大,液相分配不均匀性随液相黏度的增大而减小,气相流率的变化对于两相分布影响不明显。研究结果有助于并行微通道的结构设计与优化,以实现更为均匀的气液两相流动分配。     

微通道内单乙醇胺水溶液吸收CO2/N2混合气的传质特性

采用高速摄像仪对400 μm×400 μm T形微通道内单乙醇胺（MEA）水溶液吸收混合气中CO₂过程的气液两相流及传质特性进行了实验研究,微通道内的压力降采用压力传感器进行测量。考察了弹状流型下气液两相流量及MEA浓度对压力降、比表面积和传质性能的影响。结果表明,当MEA浓度不变,气液两相流量增大时,压力降、比表面积、传质系数、体积传质系数和增强因子均增大,并逐渐趋于恒定。当气液流量不变,MEA浓度增大时,压力降、传质系数、体积传质系数和增强因子增大,但比表面积减小。实验条件下,压力降范围为2.00~5.23 kPa,化学吸收过程的传质系数范围为7.74×10^-4~2.97×10^-3 m·s^-1。对于伴有快速化学反应的传质过程,以Sherwood数、Reynolds数、Schmidt数及增强因子为变量建立了体积传质系数的预测关联式,平均偏差为5.09%,具有良好的预测性能。     

小曲率蛇形微通道弯头处弹状流流动及传质特性的数值研究

采用CLSVOF（coupled level set and volume of fluid）方法,以空气和水为工作流体对小曲率矩形截面蛇形微通道内气液两相流动进行模拟研究。验证模型的合理性后,研究了曲率对弯通道内压降的影响,曲率及气相速度对弹状流气泡及液塞长度的综合影响;同时深入分析了弯管内气液两相流动的传质特性,包括不同曲率下气泡长度的变化,弯管内液侧体积传质系数与液膜体积传质系数的比较,曲率及气相速度对液相体积传质系数的影响。同时,对比了回转弯道与直微通道传质系数的差异,发现弯微通道可以强化传质。     

槽式孔板气液二相流差压信号的时间序列分析

槽式孔板是一种新型的气液二相流流量传感器,为了研究其二相流测量特性,提出了一种新的信号处理方法。首先应用小波变换模极大值滤波方法对差压测量信号去噪,然后对滤波结果进行经验模式分解得到有限个经验模式函数(IMF),进而对IMF建立自回归(AR)模型,研究了AR模型的参数与气液二相流流型以及分相流量之间的关系。这种信号处理方法能够使具有非平稳特性的差压信号满足时间序列分析的建模条件,AR模型的参数可以有效地区分气液二相流流型,并与气液分相流量的变化密切相关,为气液二相流流型识别和流量计量算法的研究奠定了基础。     

微通道中钒的液-液流型和萃取传质动力学研究

采用伯胺N1923萃取剂在微通道中研究V(V)的液-液流型和萃取传质动力学,以15vol% N1923作为连续相、钒氧酸根水溶液作为分散相,研究不同流速下两不混溶相的流型变化规律及两相停留时间和微通道管径作为流速的函数对传质的影响。随两相流速增大,段塞流长度和比界面面积基本不变,且两相流体由Raydrop微通道流入外接毛细管微通道时由于微通道的扩张会改变两相流动方式,使同一实验条件下在微通道中同时出现多种流型,与此同时两相流速和总体积传质系数(kLa)呈正相关,表明流型在本研究体系中对传质的影响可忽略。在相同管径通道内,停留时间与总体积传质系数呈负相关,表明在两相接触通道入口处发生了显著传质。在相同的两相混合速度和相比下,254 μm的管径传质效果是750 μm的9倍,表明小管径内传质效果更加,循环强度更大。最后将实验总体积传质系数结果与总体积传质系数的经验式进行了关联,有望为实现将微通道放大的绿色冶金技术提供理论基础。     

Slug flow characteristics of gas–miscible liquids in a rectangular microchannel with cross and T-shaped junctions

The slug flow of an inert gas and two miscible liquids in microchannels has found its applications in the preparation of solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) by the liquid flow-focusing together with Taylor bubbles in microchannel systems, synthesis of metal nanoparticles or colloid silica in microreactors and enhancement of micro-mixing by interaction using gas bubbles in microfluidic devices. In this work, the flow characteristics of the slug flow generated by nitrogen gas and two miscible liquids (the aqueous surfactant solution and acetone or ethanol) flowing in a rectangular microchannel were investigated experimentally by using the high-speed optical imaging method. The microchannel system has a straight main channel for introducing one of the miscible liquids, a cross-junction for injecting of the other miscible liquid, and a T-junction for feeding the gas phase. The pressure drops were measured and images of Taylor bubbles and slug units at various velocities were obtained, from which other flow parameters were determined. Correlations for the velocity and length of Taylor bubbles, the bubble nose length, the bubble tail length, the liquid slug length, the maximum and minimum thicknesses of the liquid films around bubbles, as well as the pressure drop, were proposed. The calculated values of these parameters by using the correlations were compared with the experimental data. The results showed that the proposed correlations are in a good or reasonable agreement with experimental data and then expected to be available in the estimation of the slug flow parameters of the inert gas and two miscible liquids in rectangular microchannels.     

微通道分流弹状流的界面过程及压力演变规律

弹状流分流不仅能调控两相流流型从而强化传热,同时也是生物化工、制药行业的传统过程。针对壁面微通道分流液相、调控两相流型的过程进行数值模拟,获得局部参数变化规律,是获得两相流流型演变机理的基础。采用VOF模型耦合动态自适应网格精准追踪气液界面,模拟气液界面在分液口的界面运动;获得轴向及壁面静压、动压的演变规律。通过模拟可知微通道分流弹状流的关键是气弹在分液口的类活塞运动;同时由于界面拉普拉斯压力差的存在,弹状流压降具有不连续性;且此不连续压力随气弹在分液口的类活塞运动具有周期波动性。而弹状流液桥部分的局部压降是影响总压降的关键;近气弹头部的液相区压降显著,近气弹尾部的液相区域由于液速降低其压降明显衰弱;此为弹状流有别于其他两相流流型的压降特点。     

Mass transfer at the confining wall of helically coiled circular tubes with gas–liquid flow and fluidized beds

Experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of various dynamic and geometric parameters on mass transfer coefficients in two-phase helically coiled flow systems. Computation of mass transfer coefficients was facilitated by the measurement of limiting current at the electrodes fixed flush with the inner surface of the tube wall. Two flow systems were chosen: a two-phase liquid solid fluidized bed and a two-phase gas–liquid up flow. An equimolar potassium ferrocyanide and potassium ferricyanide solution in the presence of sodium hydroxide was used as the liquid phase. In the fluidized bed, glass spheres and sand of different sizes were employed as fluidizing solids. In two-phase flow system nitrogen was employed as inert gas. The pressure drop in the presence of fluidizing solids in helical coils was found to increase with increase in the pitch of the coil and was maximum for straight tube. The mass transfer coefficients were found to increase with increase in liquid velocity. The mass transfer coefficients in case of gas–liquid flow were found to be independent of liquid velocity and the pitch of the coil, and were largely influenced by gas velocity only. The data were correlated using j_D factor, Helical number, Froude number and Stanton number.     

筛孔塔板上气相错流对液相流场影响的实验测量

利用热膜流速仪、测量了矩形塔内光板上液体单相流动以及筛孔板上气液两相流动时的液体流速分布，实验主要考察气液两相错流时，气体鼓泡作用对鼓泡区下游液体流速分布的影响，实验结果表明，单相流动时，受壁面效应的影响，靠近塔壁的液体的速度最低，气液两相错流时，受气体阻力作用的影响，靠近壁面液体的速度反而大于远离壁面处液体的速度，气相流量越大对液相流场的影响作用越强。     

Bubble formation in non-Newtonian fluids in a microfluidic T-junction

The aim of this work is to investigate the bubble formation in non-Newtonian fluids in a microfluidic T-junction by crossflowing rupture technique, using a high-speed digital camera. Experiments were conducted in a glass microchannel with 120 μm wide and 40 μm deep. N₂ bubbles were generated in different concentrations of polyacrylamide (PAAm) solutions. Various flow patterns were observed at the T-junction by varying gas and liquid flow rates. The breakup mechanism for bubbles was investigated to gain insight into the effects of flow rates and concentrations of PAAm solutions on bubble size. The gaseous thread collapses at a constant speed in the collapse stage; while during the final pinch-off stage, the variation of the minimum width W_m of the gaseous thread with the remaining time (T − t) could be scaled as W_m ∼ (T − t)^0.21. The bubble size increases non-linearly with the gas/liquid flow rates ratio, and decreases with the concentration of PAAm solutions.     

Comparison of hydrodynamic parameters for countercurrent and cocurrent flow through packed beds

Hydrodynamic parameters have been determined in common equipment, i.e., same column and liquid and gas distributors, for cocurrent and countercurrent two-phase flow through fixed beds. The piston/dispersion exchange model (PDE) with usual Danckwerts' boundary conditions (closed/closed system) has been used to describe the liquid flow. A new imperfect pulse method has been used to estimate the PDE model parameters directly from the experimentally nonideal input and output response. The transition between trickle flow and pulse flow, for two-phase downflow, and the occurrence of flooding, for countercurrent flow, has been investigated using a macroscopic model for the two-phase flow.