Adjoint-based design optimization of a Kenics static mixer
Mixing processes are important in many applications like food processing or in chemical reactors. Achieving homogeneous mixtures over short distances with a small pressure drop is a challenge. Kenics static mixers usually provide a good balance between pressure drop and mixing quality. Nevertheless,...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Results in Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123024001099 |
| _version_ | 1797247715563798528 |
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| author | Cristopher Morales Ubal Nijso Beishuizen Lisa Kusch Jeroen van Oijen |
| author_facet | Cristopher Morales Ubal Nijso Beishuizen Lisa Kusch Jeroen van Oijen |
| author_sort | Cristopher Morales Ubal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Mixing processes are important in many applications like food processing or in chemical reactors. Achieving homogeneous mixtures over short distances with a small pressure drop is a challenge. Kenics static mixers usually provide a good balance between pressure drop and mixing quality. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to the use of this mixing device in mixing gases, and consequently relatively large pressure drops are obtained. In this paper, the discrete adjoint method is used to obtain optimized Kenics static mixer designs with a negligible increase in pressure drop. First, a framework of a composition-dependent model based on the ideal gas mixing laws for thermochemical properties is implemented and coupled to the existing discrete adjoint solver within SU2, which is an open-source software suite for multiphysics simulations and design optimization. Subsequently, in order to identify the key geometrical parameters that affect the pressure drop in the mixer, numerical simulations are performed for different aspect ratios, blade thicknesses, and Reynolds numbers. These results are compared with available simulations and correlations reported in the literature, showing good agreement. These simulations indicate that reducing the aspect ratio and increasing the blade thickness enhance the mixing process in the mixing units. However, a substantial increase in pressure drop is observed. The results of the parameter study are used as a starting point to optimize the blade designs inside the Kenics static mixer using a discrete adjoint approach. The objective is to minimize the variance of the mass fraction at the outlet, which is a measure of mixture homogeneity, without substantially increasing the pressure drop along the mixing device. The results indicate that an optimized design can be obtained with a negligible increase in pressure drop, highlighting the capabilities of the discrete adjoint design approach as an optimization tool for mixing devices. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T00:48:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0853512991f34696acc318ad4a33afeb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2590-1230 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T20:03:06Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Results in Engineering |
| spelling | doaj.art-0853512991f34696acc318ad4a33afeb2024-03-24T07:00:56ZengElsevierResults in Engineering2590-12302024-03-0121101856Adjoint-based design optimization of a Kenics static mixerCristopher Morales Ubal0Nijso Beishuizen1Lisa Kusch2Jeroen van Oijen3Eindhoven University of Technology, Power & Flow Group, Eindhoven, the Netherlands; Corresponding author.Eindhoven University of Technology, Power & Flow Group, Eindhoven, the Netherlands; Bosch Thermotechnology, Deventer, the NetherlandsUniversity of Kaiserlautern-Landau, Kaiserslautern, GermanyEindhoven University of Technology, Power & Flow Group, Eindhoven, the NetherlandsMixing processes are important in many applications like food processing or in chemical reactors. Achieving homogeneous mixtures over short distances with a small pressure drop is a challenge. Kenics static mixers usually provide a good balance between pressure drop and mixing quality. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to the use of this mixing device in mixing gases, and consequently relatively large pressure drops are obtained. In this paper, the discrete adjoint method is used to obtain optimized Kenics static mixer designs with a negligible increase in pressure drop. First, a framework of a composition-dependent model based on the ideal gas mixing laws for thermochemical properties is implemented and coupled to the existing discrete adjoint solver within SU2, which is an open-source software suite for multiphysics simulations and design optimization. Subsequently, in order to identify the key geometrical parameters that affect the pressure drop in the mixer, numerical simulations are performed for different aspect ratios, blade thicknesses, and Reynolds numbers. These results are compared with available simulations and correlations reported in the literature, showing good agreement. These simulations indicate that reducing the aspect ratio and increasing the blade thickness enhance the mixing process in the mixing units. However, a substantial increase in pressure drop is observed. The results of the parameter study are used as a starting point to optimize the blade designs inside the Kenics static mixer using a discrete adjoint approach. The objective is to minimize the variance of the mass fraction at the outlet, which is a measure of mixture homogeneity, without substantially increasing the pressure drop along the mixing device. The results indicate that an optimized design can be obtained with a negligible increase in pressure drop, highlighting the capabilities of the discrete adjoint design approach as an optimization tool for mixing devices.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123024001099Kenics static mixerComputational fluid dynamicsAdjoint design optimizationMixing gas modelTurbulent flowLaminar flow |
| spellingShingle | Cristopher Morales Ubal Nijso Beishuizen Lisa Kusch Jeroen van Oijen Adjoint-based design optimization of a Kenics static mixer Results in Engineering Kenics static mixer Computational fluid dynamics Adjoint design optimization Mixing gas model Turbulent flow Laminar flow |
| title | Adjoint-based design optimization of a Kenics static mixer |
| title_full | Adjoint-based design optimization of a Kenics static mixer |
| title_fullStr | Adjoint-based design optimization of a Kenics static mixer |
| title_full_unstemmed | Adjoint-based design optimization of a Kenics static mixer |
| title_short | Adjoint-based design optimization of a Kenics static mixer |
| title_sort | adjoint based design optimization of a kenics static mixer |
| topic | Kenics static mixer Computational fluid dynamics Adjoint design optimization Mixing gas model Turbulent flow Laminar flow |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590123024001099 |
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