Investigation of mixing performance and flow characteristics of oil–water two‐phase flow in a novel swirling shear‐type static mixer

Abstract Multiphase flow mixing plays a crucial role in industrial applications, enhancing reaction efficiency, product quality, and process stability. However, traditional static mixers often face challenges such as high pressure loss and stringent fluid property requirements. This study introduces a novel static mixer based on swirling and shear effects to address these issues. An experimental setup was developed to evaluate the mixer, which incorporates intersecting baffle plates and multiple columns of cutting teeth. Both experiments and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were conducted to analyze the internal flow field and mixing performance of the oil–water two‐phase system. The mixing performance of the sequential and cross arrangements of cutting teeth was compared. The results show that the combination of the baffle plate and cutting teeth significantly influences the oil–water flow pattern, creating a complex vortex system that enhances mixing efficiency. Notably, the cross arrangement of cutting teeth provides more uniform mixing and a lower pressure drop compared to the sequential arrangement. These findings offer valuable insights into the optimal design and scale‐up of the newly developed static mixer for industrial applications.