No abstract

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling approach was developed to study the mixing of two immiscible liquids in NETmix reactors. A two-dimensional two-phase CFD model based on the Euler-Euler approach with the volumeof-fluid (VOF) method was implemented in a reduced physical domain from the imposition of periodic boundary conditions. The fluids modeled were sunflower oil and water. The VOF modeling was validated by comparison with experimental results. CFD results predicted the actual flow regimes and overall flow patterns for each phase at three Reynolds numbers. The validation demonstrated the 2D CFD model to describe the physics of two-phase flow in the NETmix reactors. This model can be applied to design studies for liquid-liquid extraction or gas-liquid reactors, where the operation flow regime is crucial.