Energy optimization of gas–liquid dispersion in micronozzles assisted by design of experiment

Abstract

In recent years gas-liquid flow in microchannels has drawn much attention in the research fields of analytics and applications, such as in oxidations or hydrogenations. Since surface forces are increasingly important on the small scale, bubble coalescence is detrimental and leads to Taylor bubble flow in microchannels with low surface-to-volume ratio. To overcome this limitation, we have investigated the gas–liquid flow through micronozzles and, specifically, the bubble breakup behind the nozzle. Two different regimes of bubble breakup are identified, laminar and turbulent. Turbulent bubble breakup is characterized by small daughter bubbles and narrow daughter bubble size distribution. Thus, high interfacial area is generated for increased mass and heat transfer. However, turbulent breakup mechanism is observed at high flow rates and increased pressure drops; hence, large energy input into the system is essential. In this work Design of Experiment assisted evaluation of turbulent bubbly flow redispersion is carried out to investigate the effect and significance of the nozzle’s geometrical parameters regarding bubble breakup and pressure drop. Here, the hydraulic diameter and length of the nozzle show the largest impacts. Finally, factor optimization leads to an optimized nozzle geometry for bubble redispersion via a micronozzle regarding energy efficacy to attain a high interfacial area and surface-to-volume ratio with rather low energy input.