Effect of Viscosity on the Hydrodynamics of Liquid Processes in Microchannels

The hydrodynamics of single‐phase liquid flow with relatively high fluid viscosities in a microchannel was investigated experimentally. The results showed that the conventional theory could predict the single‐phase flow with high fluid viscosities in microchannels. Furthermore, the effect of viscosity on the slug flow of two immiscible liquid phases in a microchannel was studied with high‐speed imaging techniques. It was found that a higher dispersed‐phase viscosity quickened the flow pattern transition from slug flow to parallel flow and resulted in smaller slugs. A modified capillary number representing the mutual effects of the viscosities of the continuous phase and the dispersed phase was proposed for predicting the slug sizes in microchannels.     

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.     

宽矩形硅微通道中流动冷凝的流型

对水力直径90.6 μm、宽深比9.668的矩形硅微通道中的流动冷凝过程进行了可视化研究。研究发现,宽矩形硅微通道中的冷凝,沿程主要有珠状-环状复合流、喷射流和弹状-泡状流等流型。在珠状-环状复合流区,冷凝液膜可覆盖通道竖直侧壁,而在通道长边上,仍然为珠状凝结。喷射流位置随着入口蒸气Reynolds数的增大而延后,通道截面形状对流动冷凝不稳定性也存在很大影响。喷射流之后为弹状-泡状流,弹状气泡沿程逐渐缩短,并在表面张力的作用下收缩成圆球形气泡。冷凝通道的平均传热系数将随着入口蒸气Reynolds数的增大而增大。     

大深宽比双T形微通道内液-液两相流可视化研究

通过高速摄像对水力直径0.176mm、深宽比2.4的双T形矩形微通道内的液-液两相流动进行了可视化实验研究。改变连续相（硅油）和分散相（水）的流量比,记录分析了微通道不同部位油-水两相流的流型和流型发展演化情况。实验结果表明,在微通道上游T形部位的油-水两相流型主要包括滴状流、弹状流、波平行流和平行流;在微通道的中间部位,绘制了基于水和硅油量纲为1韦伯数的流型图,并将其与相关文献进行了比较。同时,发现微通道内液塞及液滴的长度（量纲为1）与油/水流量比之间存在线性关系,液塞/液滴速度比两相混合物表观速度大,建立了能够准确描述液塞/液滴运动速度的实验拟合公式。最后,研究了液滴在微通道下游T形部位的行为,观察到断裂和不断裂两种模式并进行了分析,给出了划分断裂与否的流型图。     

An experimental investigation of gas-liquid two-phase flow in single microchannel contactors

This paper describes two-phase flow pattern and pressure drop characteristics during the absorption of CO₂ into water in three horizontal microchannel contactors which consist of Y-type rectangular microchannels having hydraulic diameters of 667, 400 and , respectively. With the help of a high-speed photography system, flow patterns such as bubbly flow, slug flow (including two sub-regimes, Taylor flow and unstable slug flow), slug-annular flow, churn flow and annular flow were observed in these microchannels. The applicability of the currently available correlations for describing flow pattern transitions in microchannels has been examined. Generally, the predicting performance of these correlations deteriorates as the channel diameter further reduces. Toward solving this discrepancy, an empirical correlation based on the superficial Weber numbers was developed to interpret the transition from Taylor flow to unstable slug flow in three microchannels. Taylor bubble formation process in microchannels was found to be in the squeezing regime at lower superficial liquid velocities (Ca ranging from 0.0019 to 0.029) while the transition to the dripping regime was observed at the highest superficial liquid velocity of 1.0 m/s. Lengths of Taylor bubbles formed in the squeezing regime can be well represented by the scaling relation proposed by Garstecki et al. [Formation of droplets and bubbles in a microfluidic T-junction—scaling and mechanism of break-up. Lab on a Chip, 6, 437-446]. For flow patterns including slug-annular flow, annular flow and churn flow, a simple analysis based on the separated flow model has been performed in order to reveal the observed effect of the superficial liquid velocity on two-phase frictional multiplier in the present microchannels. Then, reasonable correlations for the prediction of two-phase frictional pressure drop under these flow patterns were suggested.     

An experimental study of air-water Taylor flow and mass transfer inside square microchannels

Flow and mass transfer properties under air-water Taylor flow have been investigated in two square microchannels with hydraulic diameters of 400 and 200 μm. Experimental data on Taylor bubble velocity, pressure drop and liquid side volumetric mass transfer coefficient (k_La) have been presented. It was shown that the measured Taylor bubble velocity in square microchannels could be well interpreted based upon an approximate measurement of the liquid film profile therein. Then, the obtained two-phase frictional pressure drop values in both microchannels were found to be significantly higher than the predictions of the correlation proposed by Kreutzer et al. [2005b. Inertial and interfacial effects on pressure drop of Taylor flow in capillaries. A.I.Ch.E. Journal 51, 2428-2440] when the liquid slug was very short, which can be explained by the inadequacy of their correlation to describe the excess pressure drop caused by the strong inner circulation in such short liquid slugs. An appropriate modification has been made to this correlation in order to improve its applicability in microchannels. Finally, the experimental (k_La) values in the microchannel with hydraulic diameter of 400 μm were found to be in poor agreement with those predicted by the existing correlations proposed for capillaries with diameters of several millimeters. The observed deviation was mainly due to the fact that mass transfer experiments in this microchannel actually corresponded to the case of short film contact time and rather poor mixing between the liquid film and the liquid slug, which was not in accordance with mass transfer assumptions associated with these correlations. A new empirical correlation has been proposed to describe mass transfer data in this microchannel.     

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。     

Flow distribution and mass transfer in a parallel microchannel contactor integrated with constructal distributors

Flow distribution and mass transfer characteristics during CO₂‐water flow through a parallel microchannel contactor integrated with two constructal distributors have been investigated numerically and experimentally. Each distributor comprises a dichotomic tree structure that feeds 16 microchannels with hydraulic diameters of 667 μm. It was found that constructal distributors could ensure a nearly uniform gas–liquid distribution at high gas flow rates where the ideal flow pattern was slug‐annular flow. Nevertheless, at small gas flow rates where the ideal flow pattern was slug flow, a significant flow maldistribution occurred primarily due to the lack of large pressure barrier inside each distributor, indicating that dynamic pressure fluctuation in parallel microchannels greatly disturbed an otherwise good flow distribution therein. It was further shown that the present parallel microchannel contactor could realize the desired mass transfer performance previously achieved in one single microchannel under relatively wide operational ranges due to the integration of constructal distributors. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2010     

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。     

Transport of Wetting and Nonwetting Liquid Plugs in a T-shaped Microchannel

The transport of liquid plugs in microchannels is very important for many applications such as in medical treatments in airways and in extraction of oil from porous rocks. A plug of wetting and non-wetting liquids driven by a constant pressure difference through a T-shaped microchannel is studied numerically with lattice Boltzmann (LB) method. A two-phase flow LB model based on field mediators is built. Three typical flow patterns (blocking, rupture and splitting flow) of plug flow are obtained with different driving pressures. It is found that it becomes difficult for a plug with short initial plug length to leave the microchannel; the flow pattern of plug transport varies with the contact angle, especially from wetting to nonwetting; with the increase of interfacial tension, the front interface of plug moves faster; the front and rear interfaces of the plug with small viscosity ratio move faster in the microchannel than those of the plug with large viscosity ratio. The study is helpful to provide theoretical data for the design and scale-up of liquid-liquid reactors and separators.     

The effects of viscosity, surface tension, and flow rate on gasoil-water flow pattern in microchannels

A microchannel was fabricated with glass tubes to investigate the effect of viscosity, surface tension, and flow rate on the liquid-liquid two-phase flow regime. Water and gasoil were selected as aqueous and organic working fluids, respectively. The two fluids were injected into the microchannel and created either slug or parallel profile depending on the applied conditions. The range of Reynolds and capillary numbers was chosen in such a way that neither inertia nor interfacial tension forces were negligible. Xanthan gum was used to increase viscosity and Triton X-100 (TX-100) and Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS) were used to reduce the interfacial tension. The results demonstrated that higher value of viscosity and flow rate increased interfacial area, but slug flow regime remained unchanged. The two surfactants showed different effects on the flow regime and interfacial area. Addition of TX-100 did not change the slug flow but decreased the interfacial area. In contrast, addition of SDS increased interfacial area by decreasing the slug’s length in the low concentrations and by switching from slug to parallel regime at high concentrations.     

对称分支并行微通道中气液两相流的均匀性规律

采用高速摄像系统研究了对称分支形并行微通道内气液两相流及弹状气泡均匀性规律。实验中分别采用含0.3% SDS的甘油-水溶液与氮气作为液相和气相。观察到弹状流和泡状流两种流型,作出了由两相操作条件构成的流型图及流型转变线。结果表明,气泡非均匀性主要由两微通道内流体之间的相互作用、下游通道中流体动力学的反馈作用以及通道制造误差造成。随液相黏度增大,气泡均匀性变好;在高液相流量以及低气相压力下操作,气泡尺寸分布更易达到均匀。基于压力降守恒原理和微通道内气液两相流阻力模型,构建了两通道中气泡尺寸的预测模型。     

Immiscible liquid–liquid slug flow characteristics in the generation of aqueous drops within a rectangular microchannel for preparation of poly(2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate) cryogel beads

The microchannel liquid-flow focusing and cryo-polymerization is an efficient method for the preparation of cryogel beads with a narrow diameter distribution. In order to prepare cryogel beads with expected diameters, it is necessary to get insights in the liquid–liquid immiscible flow characteristics of the flow-focusing fluid and the monomer solution in microchannels. In this work, the slug flow behaviors of two immiscible liquids regarding the preparation of poly(2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate) (pHEMA) cryogel beads in a rectangular cross-junction microchannel were investigated experimentally by the high-speed imaging method. Correlations of the immiscible liquid–liquid slug flow parameters like the aqueous slug velocity and length, the aqueous slug nose and tail lengths, the water-immiscible slug length as well as the aqueous droplet size were obtained. The pHEMA cryogel beads were prepared under certain flow conditions and the bead sizes were measured by laser particle size analyzer. The obtained correlations were then employed to estimate the bead sizes and compared with those obtained experimentally. The results showed that the present correlations gave reasonable estimations of the mean bead diameters at various conditions and thus, could be useful and helpful in the preparation of cryogel beads with expected size distributions in rectangular microchannels.     

蛇形微通道气液两相流动特性

以空气、去离子水为实验工质,在θ=50°的Y型混合器内充分混合,利用高速摄像仪对当量直径177.8 μm的小曲率蛇形微通道进行可视化实验,对比了两种气液混合方式(上气下液型、上液下气型)下的流动特性。实验发现的主要流型有弹状流、波状分层流、弥散流等,对此分别研究了气弹的形状和长度、液膜厚度以及气流携带液滴的份额,并提出新的预测液滴含量的关联式。此外,针对这两种不同的混合方式,在弯道处发现圆弧可以诱导产生弹状流,二者均经历拉伸和断裂过程,区别在于后者在拉伸之前,先要进行膨胀。不同的气液混合方式对各相的流动会产生一定的影响,两相流体在通道壁面附近以及弯道处的分布也有所区别。     

A simple mechanism of bubble and slug formation in Taylor flow in microchannels

A simple mechanism is proposed to explain and predict the bubble and slug lengths in Taylor (slug) flow in microchannels. The results obtained using the proposed approach are in good agreement with a correlation based on numerical experiments [Qian, D. and Lawal, A., 2006, Numerical study on gas and liquid slugs for Taylor flow in a T-junction microchannel. Chem Eng Sci, 80: 7609–7625] and available experimental data.     

蛇形微通道内泄漏流特性

微流体系统通常具备极大的比表面积、易于控制等优势,在气-液相传质、传热、反应等方面具有良好的应用前景。本文考察了6个气液相体系在矩形截面蛇形微通道中的气液两相泰勒流流动情况以及气泡和液弹的动态行为,以气泡截面形状的几何模型为基础,得到了微通道中净泄漏流的量化方程。同时发现在较大的操作区间内,蛇形微通道对泄漏流的可控性优于直形微通道。并且详细分析了不同气液相流量、液相物性（表面张力和黏度）和气泡长度对蛇形微通道主通道净泄漏流的具体影响。     

T型微通道内液滴尺寸的实验测定与关联

利用高速摄像仪对不同深宽比的T型微通道内液滴尺寸进行了实验研究。分别采用3种不同尺寸(深度×宽度)的微通道:400 μm×400 μm、400 μm×600 μm、400 μm×800 μm。以环己烷为分散油相,含0.3%表面活性剂十二烷基硫酸钠(SDS)的蒸馏水-甘油(质量分数分别为20%、40%、60%)溶液为连续相。考察了弹状流、过渡流和滴状流流型下微通道尺寸、两相流率、物性对液滴尺寸的影响。结果表明:液滴尺寸随微通道深宽比、连续相流率、黏度和毛细数的增加而减小,随分散相流率的增加而增加。用毛细数、两相流量比和通道深宽比对微通道内液滴尺寸进行了关联和预测,预测值与实验结果吻合良好。     

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。     

微通道中气-液-液三相流流型及传质研究

使用双T型微通道,以体积分数为30%的磷酸三丁酯（TBP）的环己烷溶液-乙酸水溶液为萃取体系,研究了不同油水两相流量比及油水两相总流量条件下,气相的引入及气相流量分率α对流型及传质的影响,并获得总体积传质系数k_La与油水两相流量比q、气相雷诺数Re_g、液相平均雷诺数Re_M的关系式。研究结果表明,第1个T型接口处气相的引入所带来的气相剪切作用能促进第2个T型接口处分散相液滴的形成,可使液-液并行流转化为气-液-液三相弹状流;同时,由于气-液-液弹状流具有较高的相接触面积及内循环作用,传质系数k_La得到显著提高。