Heat transfer and turbulent mixing characterization in screen-type static mixers

A numerical investigation of one phase flow through tubular pipes equipped with screen mixers was undertaken to study their effect on turbulent mixing as well as their heat transfer performance. The current work investigates 2D simulations in order to get insight on transport phenomena parameters in these mixers. Micromixing time was found to be enhanced by the use of screens with smaller fraction open areas because of their consequent effect on the local variation of the turbulence energy dissipation rate. Moreover, heat transfer experiments also showed that the Nusselt number, which increases with Re-0.68 independently of the screen geometry, is also inversely proportional to the fraction open area of the screen. When compared with published data, screen mixers showed that their heat transfer performance compare favorably with the performance of various commercially available static mixers.