Enhanced Mixing of Continuous Flow Reactor Under Nonperiodic Jet-Stirring

Abstract The continuous stirred microwave tank reactor employs a continuous process, ensuring uninterrupted mixing and chemical reactions, with applications spanning chemical processing, pharmaceuticals, nanotechnology, etc. The nonperiodic noticeable effects from inlet jets on the mixing flow dynamics are more complex than conventional stirred-tank reactors. The alcohol-oil mixing under the coupling jet-stirring with various jet modes is evaluated by different mixed evaluation methods. Numerical calculations are employed to compare and analyze mixing flow. The study revealed that jets significantly influence global nonperiodic flow patterns by directly altering the jet flow and indirectly by changing the circulatory vortices. Counterclockwise jets produce larger velocity gradients, enhancing shear between fluids and optimizing mixing performance. The residence time verified by comparing the simulation results based on both residence time distribution theory and mean age theory, revealed that the mixing time is reduced by 33% compared with the traditional batch stirring reactor. The mean age theory can obtain reliable conclusions on the premise of greatly reducing the calculation cost.