A spinning
disk reactor (SDR) is one of the important process intensification
devices. Previous studies primarily focused on the dependence of the
liquid flow in a SDR on the operational conditions and liquid properties.
However, the effect of hydrophobicity of the disk’s surface
on the liquid flow in a SDR is rarely reported. In this work, the
disk with a hydrophobic surface was prepared, and the effects of surface
hydrophobicity, liquid flow rate, rotational speed, and liquid viscosity
on the liquid flow patterns as well as the average diameter of a liquid
droplet (d
avg) were investigated by a
visualization method. An empirical correlation of d
avg was suggested, and the deviations were within ±15%
when the calculated values of d
avg were
compared with the experimental data.
The waves of liquid film flow play an important role on the process intensification in spinning disk reactors (SDRs). However, the mechanism of wave formation was still unclear. In this work, a three‐dimensional large eddy simulation was developed to investigate the mechanism, as well as the characteristics of waves in the SDR. Agreed with the imaging results, different wave patterns were identified as: smooth film, concentric, and spiral waves in spreading direction; sine‐like and pulse‐like waves in fluctuating direction. The radial and tangential relative movements among the layers of liquid film were found to dominate the formation of different wave patterns. Local average film thickness (havg) and local wave amplitude (Δh) ranged from 0 to 500 μm and 0 to 200 μm, respectively. The waves can improve the turbulent intensity and enlarge the specific surface area, resulting in the intensification of transfer processes.
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