Flow field characteristics in a counter flow contact‐cyclone reactor for preparation of epoxy fatty acid methyl ester

Abstract The flow field characteristics of a counter flow contact‐cyclone reactor (CFC‐CR) used for the production of epoxy fatty acid methyl esters were analyzed using Reynolds stress model and Eulerian model. The effect of reaction chamber height, impact distance, and accelerating pipeline length on the flow field distribution and mixing performance in the reaction chamber were investigated. The results show that the height of the reaction chamber mainly affects the mixing time of the two phases. When the height of the reaction chamber is greater than 120 mm, increasing its height has little improvement on the mixing efficiency. The impact distance significantly affects the uniformity and intensity of the flow field on the impact plane, thereby altering the overall mixing effect in the reaction chamber. When the impact distance is 30 mm, the flow field distribution is uniform, and the intensity of vortices is high, which is beneficial for mixing the liquid mixture. The accelerating pipeline length effectively improves the premixing effect, meanwhile, it ensures a smaller relative velocity difference when the mixture enters the reaction chamber. Both the premixing effect and the flow field distribution perform well with the accelerating pipeline length of 40 mm. Ultimately, the optimal reaction chamber structural parameters, evaluated based on the mixing effect, are determined to be H = 120 mm, L = 30 mm, and T = 40 mm.