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Free-Flowing Shear-Thinning Liquid Film in Inclined μ-Channels
Version 1
: Received: 17 December 2018 / Approved: 19 December 2018 / Online: 19 December 2018 (03:03:12 CET)
A peer-reviewed article of this Preprint also exists.
Koupa, A.T.; Stergiou, Y.G.; Mouza, A.A. Free-Flowing Shear-Thinning Liquid Film in Inclined μ-Channels. Fluids 2019, 4, 8. Koupa, A.T.; Stergiou, Y.G.; Mouza, A.A. Free-Flowing Shear-Thinning Liquid Film in Inclined μ-Channels. Fluids 2019, 4, 8.
Abstract
Among the most important variables in the design of falling film microreactors (FFMRs) is the liquid film thickness as well as the gas/liquid interfacial area, which dictate the mass and heat transfer rates. In a previous work conducted in our lab the characteristics of a free-falling Newtonian liquid film have been studied and appropriate correlations have been proposed. In this work the geometrical characteristics of a non-Newtonian shear thinning liquid, flowing in an inclined open microchannel, have been experimentally investigated and design correlations that can predict with reasonable accuracy the features of a FFMR have been proposed. The test section used was an open μ-channel with square cross section (Wo=1200 μm) made of brass which can be set to various inclination angles. The liquid film characteristics were measured by a non-intrusive technique that is based on the features of a μ-PIV system. Relevant CFD simulations revealed that the volume average dynamic viscosity over the flow domain is practically the same as the corresponding asymptotic viscosity value, which can thus be used in proposed the design equations. Finally, a generalized algorithm for the design of FFMRs, containing non-Newtonian shear thinning liquids, is suggested.
Keywords
free-flowing film; FFMR; inclined μ-channel; non-Newtonian; shear thinning; μ-PIV; me-niscus
Subject
Physical Sciences, Fluids and Plasmas Physics
Copyright: This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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