Computational Fluid Dynamics Study of Taylor Flow in Microreactors:Investigating the Effect of Surface Tension and Contact Angle on the Heatand Mass Transfer

TL;DR

This study uses CFD simulations to analyze how surface tension and contact angle influence Taylor flow in microreactors, impacting heat and mass transfer efficiency and safety.

Contribution

It provides new insights into how contact angle affects bubble size and surface area, with implications for optimizing microreactor performance.

Findings

Contact angle significantly affects bubble size and surface area.

Surface tension does not significantly change these parameters.

Lower contact angles can lead to bubbly flow, enhancing mass transfer.

Abstract

Microfluidics technology offers high efficiency of heat and mass transfer and low safety hazards compared to conventional multiphase processes. The multiphase flow in the microchannels is usually characterized as Taylor flow that includes elongated microbubbles , separated by liquid slugs. In the current study, we employ OpenFOAM CFD package to investigate the effect of the surface tension and the contact angle on the interfacial surface area and transport yield in microscale systems. The results show that contact angle can significantly affect the surface area and the bubble size while the surface tension does not change these parameters in the system. Moreover, in lower contact angle, the flow may turn into bubbly flow, affecting $K_L$, mass transfer coefficient in the liquid phase. Findings of the current study can improve the mass transfer coefficient in microreactors while avoiding thermal runaways, hot spots and other safety issues of conventional reactors.