An elastic analog model for controlling the impingement point position in confined impinging jets

Confined impinging jets (CIJs) are highly efficient mixers. The scales of mixing in CIJs are controlled by the opposed jets interaction. A mechanistic model is described here, which accurately predicts the impinging position of the opposed jets for a large range of flow rate ratios. The impinging point position is shown to impact the dynamic properties of the flow and the achieved mixing quality. The opposed jets kinetic energy ratio is shown to have a critical impact on mixing, similar to the Reynolds number. A mixing chamber design relation is proposed and verified for the opposed injectors diameters ratio, , which enables to operate CIJs under optimum mixing conditions for large ranges of flow rate ratios, viscosity and density ratios between the opposed streams. Optimum values have asymptotes for large and small Reynolds number depending on the process stoichiometry, viscosity, and density ratios of the opposed jet streams. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 2200–2212, 2016