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Effect of particle shapes on diffusion and mixing in a cylindrical mixer with rotating paddles

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Abstract

Numerical simulations were performed to study the particle shape effect on the particle-scale diffusion and mixing behavior in the mixer driven by the rotating paddles. Four shapes of particles, the sphere, the prolate spheroid, the oblate spheroid, and the cube, are simulated. Velocities, flow blockages, and diffusion of particles are analyzed. The mixing index is applied to quantitatively evaluate the mixing. Numerical results show that the circumferential velocity in the above-paddle region is much greater than in the paddle region. Compared to other shapes, the cubic particles have less movement in low velocity and more in high velocity. The cubic shape, rather than the ellipsoidal shape of different aspect ratios, plays a non-negligible role in flow blockage. For particle diffusion, the mean square displacement (MSD) varies linearly with time for the sphere, the prolate, and the oblate spheroids. The average diffusion coefficient is about 6.5 × 10-5 m2/s. In contrast, the MSD of the cubes is greater than the other shapes, and a sub-diffusion phenomenon is observed. The mixing index increases with time and reaches approximately a steady value of 0.9 after 3.0 s. Because of the different particle–wall interactions, the mixing indices of the cube, the prolate, and the oblate spheroids in the mixer are less than those of the sphere. Finally, radial mixing and axial mixing are evaluated by the eight kinds of mixing functions. These mixing functions and their time-averaged values show that the cubic particle has significantly different features of mixing. Its radial mixing is stronger than other kinds of shapes. Also, the cube’ axial mixing upward is weaker whereas the mixing downward is the strongest.

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Acknowledgements

This research is supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2022YFB1902503), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (12105101).

Funding

The Funding was provided by Key Technologies Research and Development Program, 2022YFB1902503, Hao Wu, National Natural Science Foundation of China, 12105101, Nan Gui

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai, 201620, China

    Xiang Fang

  2. School of Nuclear Science and Engineering, North China Electric Power University, Beijing, 102206, China

    Hao Wu

  3. Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Nuclear Energy Technology, Key Laboratory of Advanced Reactor Engineering and Safety, Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China

    Nan Gui & Jiyuan Tu

  4. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, 100029, China

    Xiujin Li

  5. School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, 3083, Australia

    Jiyuan Tu

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  1. Xiang Fang
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Correspondence to Hao Wu or Nan Gui.

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Fang, X., Wu, H., Gui, N. et al. Effect of particle shapes on diffusion and mixing in a cylindrical mixer with rotating paddles. Comp. Part. Mech. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40571-024-00713-2

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