Flow, Thermal, and Mass Mixing Analysis in a T-Shaped Mixer

Mixing in micro or meso scale devices is used in various systems throughout industries. Improvement in mixing is desired, preferably through molecular diffusion enhancement. This enhancement is related to the geometry of the mixer. T-shape is the simplest but physically challenging to study. In the present work numerical model is developed to study the flow, thermal, and mass mixing in a T-shaped mixer; validation is made against the experimental data available in the literature. In this study, three Re-flow viz. stratified, vortex, and engulfment based on Reynolds number (respectively, 100, 175, and 350) of the flow are studied for three different temperature differences (30, 45, and 70); the effect of different flow regimes on the thermal mixing efficiency is studied. For mass mixing, two species viz. producer gas and air are considered for the three Reynolds numbers at ΔT = 70 K. The species were chosen such that the results will be helpful in extending them as alternative fuels in IC engine applications. To quantify flow, thermal and mass mixing, streamlines, thermal mixing efficiency, and mass mixing index (M), respectively are used. It is observed that for the engulfment flow regime (Re = 350 and ΔT = 70 K) the mass mixing index was the highest, i.e., M = 0.689 indicating good mixing.