Scalar transport in inline mixers with spatially periodic flows

Spatially persisting patterns form during the downstream evolution of passive scalars in three-dimensional (3D) spatially periodic flows due to the coupled effect of stretching and folding mechanisms of the flow field. This has been investigated in many computational and theoretical studies of 2D time-periodic and 3D spatially periodic flow fields. However, experimental studies, to date, have mainly focused on flow visualization with streaks of dye rather than fully 3D scalar field measurements. Our study employs 3D particle tracking velocimetry and 3D laser-induced fluorescence to analyze the evolution of 3D flow and scalar fields and the correlation between the coherent flow/scalar field structures in a representative inline mixer, the Quatro static mixer. For this purpose an experimental setup that consists of an optically accessible test section with transparent internal elements accommodating a pressure-driven pipe flow has been built. The flow and scalar fields clearly underline the complementarity of the experimental results with numerical simulations and provide validation of the periodicity assumption needed in numerical studies. The experimental procedure employed in this investigation, which allows studying the scalar transport in the advective limit, demonstrates the suitability of the present method for exploratory mixing studies of a variety of mixing devices, beyond the Quatro static mixer. Published by AIP Publishing