The Effect of Inertia on the Flow and Mixing Characteristics of a Chaotic Serpentine Mixer

Abstract

As an extension of our previous study, the flow and mixing characteristics of a serpentine mixer in non-creeping flow conditions are investigated numerically. A periodic velocity field is obtained for each spatially periodic channel with the Reynolds number (Re) ranging from 0.1 to 70 and the channel aspect ratio from 0.25 to one. The flow kinematics is visualized by plotting the manifold of the deforming interface between two fluids. The progress of mixing affected by the Reynolds number and the channel geometry is characterized by a measure of mixing, the intensity of segregation, calculated using the concentration distribution. A mixer with a lower aspect ratio, which is a poor mixer in the creeping flow regime, turns out to be an efficient one above a threshold value of the Reynolds number, Re = 50. This is due to the combined effect of the enhanced rotational motion of fluid particles and back flows near the bends of the channel driven by inertia. As for a mixer with a higher aspect ratio, the intensity of segregation has its maximum around Re = 30, implying that inertia does not always have a positive influence on mixing in this mixer.